West Texas Crossroads Marathon: Palma captures men's title in his return to racing

Coming soon, Rey Palma could be jogging down a street near you.

The 23-year-old Odessa resident and Fort Stockton High School graduate just loves running, and he realized it even more when his job was so demanding for about 18 months that he wasn’t able to pound the pavement — even recreationally.

But Palma changed jobs, got back into the lifestyle and Saturday crossed the finish line first in the 2011 West Texas CrossRoads Marathon. Palma, who also won the inaugural CrossRoads Marathon in 2008, finished this year’s 26.2-mile journey in 3 hours, 5 minutes, 37 seconds.

“For my first marathon I really would go all out and do 15-mile runs every day,” Palma said. “Now it’s just working around my schedule and trying to throw in little runs here and there. I try to sneak off every chance I get. (Winning) just brings my motivation up.”

Amy Clark, a 34-year-old from Fort Worth, was the women’s champion in a time of 3:40:58.

In addition to their victories, Palma and Clark ran qualifying times for the 2012 Boston Marathon. Since its inception in 2008, the CrossRoads Marathon has been a qualifier for Boston.

“I think that’s a big thing to draw people,” Clark said.

Clark competed at the Boston Marathon in April while Palma competed there in 2009, which was the last time he ran in a marathon.

Palma isn’t sure if he will make an effort to head to Boston again next year, though he thinks his CrossRoads title this time around was a smarter effort overall.

“I was just pushing it and pushing it,” Palma said. “I didn’t have a real fast pace, but the pace was just solid. No slowing down and no speeding up. When I ran in ’08 I was in super shape and my time ain’t that much different.

“Last time I ended up dying and walking some of it. Now it’s just solid the whole way through from (mile) 1 to 26.”

Palma finished in 2:59:37 in 2008.

This year’s marathon and half-marathon finished at Ratliff Stadium for the first time, something race coordinator Reggie Baker hopes to continue in future years.

There also were 5-kilometer and 10-kilometer races and an event-record 499 total entrants, with money beyond race expenses being donated between two beneficiaries in Odessa — Medical Center Hospital Friendship House Project and The Crisis Center.

In addition to Palma and Clark, there were three other finishers who ran Boston Marathon qualifying times for their age divisions — 43-year-old James Lehman (3:11:21), who was the runner-up overall; 45-year-old Cody Miller (3:25:10); and 50-year-old Craig Freeman (3:34:02).

Qualifying for Boston wasn’t necessarily the point for Palma, who won a bronze at the Class 3A state meet in the 3,200 meters for Fort Stockton in 2006 after finishing sixth in the Class 3A state cross country meet in 2005. He loved winning Saturday, especially with 2-year-old son David on hand, but he just likes to put one foot in front of the other.

“Most of the time I just take off running through the neighborhoods and run as long as I can,” Palma said. “I just enjoy it.”

>> Follow Chris Gove on Twitter at @OA_Sports

>> 2011 West Texas CrossRoads

Saturday, Odessa

(Note: Complete results can be found
at cadencesports.com)

MARATHON (26.2 miles)

x-Boston Marathon qualifying standard met

Women

(25 runners)

1. x-Amy Clark, 3 hours, 40 minutes, 58 seconds; 2. Kelly Weaver, 3:49:14; 3. Trisha Chavez, 3:57:26; 4. Vanessa Servantes, 3:58:36; 5. Paige Gates, 3:58:37; 6. Diana Sanchez, 4:04:53; 7. Kristen Voorhies, 4:05:13; 8. Rachel Wood, 4:07:29; 9. Jonna Byars, 4:10:29; 10. Laura Steen-Patterson, 4:15:13.

Men

(34 runners)

1. x-Rey Palma, 3:05:37; 2. x-James Lehman, 3:11:21; 3. Andrew Johnson, 3:24:26; 4. x-Cody Miller, 3:25:10; 5. x-Craig Freeman, 3:33:55; 6. Derek Howell, 3:34:14; 7. Ricky Guadarrama, 3:49:05; 8. Caleb Marcinkovich, 3:50:04; 9. Julian Meynell, 3:51:35; 10. Jesse Navarro, 3:54:19.

———

HALF-MARATHON (13.1 miles)

Women

(76 runners)

1. Yomi Long, 1 hour, 34 minutes, 34 seconds; 2. Aliza Bowcutt, 1:41:10; 3. Jaime Atwood, 1:44:09; 4. Jenna-Caer Seefried, 1:47:28; 5. Deidra Nelson, 1:47:32; 6. Reagan Alexander, 1:50:19; 7. Tammy Walls, 1:56:53; 8. Jamie Dildy, 1:58:14; 9. Teresa Linder, 1:58:42; 10. Shannon Silhan, 1:58:42.

Men

(77 runners)

1. Keith Kimbrough, 1 hour, 35 minutes, 3 seconds; 2. Francois Baverel, 1:36:13; 3. Jim Larsen, 1:40:13; 4. Kyle Beran, 1:40:22; 5. Luis Cardenas, 1:41:32; 6. S. Canon, 1:42:30; 7. Brian Singletary, 1:43:19; 8. Greg Atwood, 1:44:01; 9. John Lehman, 1:44:56; 10. Camron Stotts, 1:45:17.

———

10-KILOMETER

Women

(48 runners)

1. Megan Johnson, 49 minutes, 0 seconds; 2. Kayla Kauk, 49:07; 3. Teresa Newman, 49:11; 4. Tammy Bales, 50:55; 5. Sabrina Swinney, 51:02; 6. Yolanda Vasquez, 51:53; 7. Rachel Tuck, 53:44; 8. Deloras Shubert, 54:01; 9. Bre Becker, 54:17; 10. Cheryl Torres, 54:34.

Men

(38 runners)

1. Rolando Rodriguez, 34 minutes, 6 seconds; 2. Keino Josephat, 35:43; 3. Roy Allen, 45:26; 4. Phillip Knight, 45:52; 5. Javier Morales, 46:05; 6. Alberico Capuchina, 47:12; 7. Steven Lively, 47:58; 8. Chris Byrne, 48:41; 9. Robert Kirk, 49:05; 10. David Vandermeer, 49:20.

———

5-KILOMETER

Women

(126 runners)

1. Heather Lacy, 24 minutes, 7 seconds; 2. Allison Heath, 24:07; 3. Kerry Holcomb, 24:23; 4. Kaylea Lopez, 29:06; 5. Jessica Bolton, 29:08; 6. Dawn Edington, 29:21; 7. Evenet Covos, 29:27; 8. Diana Rodriguez, 29:31; 9. Alison Burton, 29:41; 10. Katherine Combs, 30:08.

Men

(75 runners)

1. Jose Meza, 18 minutes, 17 seconds; 2. Oscar Chevez, 20:57; 3. Sammie Bustamante II, 21:16; 4. Todd Robinson, 21:45; 5. Shaw Spicer, 22:08; 6. Brandon Utley, 22:09; 7. Victor Martinez, 22:17; 8. Mykel Gaona, 22:31; 9. Chad Collie, 23:27; 10. David McGuire, 23:37.