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Jon Walk, (832) 296-0785

BUCCI, VAN WYNGAARDEN WIN 12th ANNUAL

SEABROOK LUCKY TRAIL MARATHON
SEABROOK, TX (March 17, 2015) After being in second and fourth, respectively,
after the first of four loops of the City of Seabrook trail system, Houstons Daniel Bucci and
The Woodlands Henrita Van Wyngaarden pulled ahead on the second loop and never
looked back in capturing the 12th annual Seabrook Lucky Trail Marathon here on Sunday in
3:03:07 and 3:23:42, respectively.
The duo was also crowned the 2015 Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) Texas
State Marathon champions.
Bucci, 32, posted his second career marathon win (Texas Marathon, Kingwood,
2014) after trailing Houstons Tristan LeGrande, 32, on the first loop.
Third here a year ago, Bucci opened up a 39-second advantage on LeGrande at the
midway point and was never seriously challenged as Houstons Bryce Farber, 31, worked
his way up from sixth place to finish second in 3:03:59.
Houstons Mark Junkans, 43, who was second after the third loop, faded to third to
finish in 3:06:51, but still earned the mens RRCA Texas State Marathon Masters title.
It was Buccis eight podium marathon finish since January 1, 2014, while Van
Wyngaarden, 44, reached her third podium and her first career win in the same time
span.
A 4:30 marathoner as recent as four years ago, Van Wyngaarden had Houstons
Doan Pham in lock step at the half way mark with Fort Worths Amy Ewing, 45, and
Kingwoods Jacqueline OBrien-Nolen, 49, no more than 31 seconds behind.
Van Wyngaarden then kept pace with Sugar Lands Ly Phan, who was running in
the mens race, to break the finish line tape just 33 seconds off of her marathon personal
best (3:23:09), set three weeks earlier when she was seventh overall at The Woodlands
Marathon.
Ewing passed Pham on the third loop to finish second overall in 3:31:20 to be the
womens RRCA Texas State Marathon Masters champion.

The Woodlands Drew George, who turned 50 a month ago, joined Houstons Leslie
May, 54, as the RRCA Texas State Marathon Grandmasters champions with respective
finishes of 3:07:23 and 4:16:22.
St. Albans, Great Britains Jack Brooks, 63, and Kingwoods Karen Berglund, 63,
turned in times of 3:44:23 and 5:56:56, respectively, to become the RRCA Texas State
Marathon Senior Grandmasters champions for 2015.
It was Berglunds second consecutive RRCA Senior Grandmasters Marathon
championship victory.
The seventh oldest marathon in Texas a title shared with Wacos Miracle Match
Marathon and its companion half also played host to a Saturday half marathon for the
ninth straight year in addition to the inaugural Seabrook Lucky Trail 5K on Saturday that
benefitted the scholarship program of a brand new, not-for-profit Footsteps For The Fallen.
The remainder of the race proceeds benefits The Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Inc.,
whose mission is to offer support, provide safety, and prevents domestic and sexual
violence.
A record 1,268 individuals crossed a common finish line on Saturday and Sunday,
which includes 78 relay teams from both days.
Websters Sebastian Koran, 13, and Houstons Paula Beck, 40, led just under 265
Seabrook Lucky Trail 5K participants across the finish line in respective winning times of
19:37 and 22:57.
One newcomer broke the top of the podium in the weekends half marathons as
Friendswoods Stephen Wolff, 29, won Saturdays event by three minutes exactly over
Lucky Trail Half Marathon veteran Steve Maliszewski, 42, in 1:22:52 the eighth fastest
mens half marathon in the events history.
However, Maliszewski came back the next day to win the Sunday half for the second
straight year. The Badwater 135 finisher from last year defeated runner-up Franz
Carstens, 44, of Cypress, by nearly two and a half minutes in 1:26:13.
Houstons Victoria Webster, 30, posted only the second double by a female in event
history the other being Brenna Abbitt in 2009 -- by winning both Saturday and Sundays
half marathons in 1:33:07 and 1:33:25, respectively, over Alvins Heather Welsch, 12, and
Lake Jacksons Kelly Ramos, 26, by more than three and five minutes.
Just over 150 runners completed either the Pelican or Trail Challenge, which
included running the half marathon on Saturday followed by either the half marathon
(Pelican, 104) or marathon (Trail, 47) on Sunday.
As expected, Maliszewski and Webster led all men and women in the Pelican
Challenge with combined times of 2:52:06 and 3:06:34, respectively.
Seattle, Washingtons Kyle McCoy had the mens fastest time (4:50:12) in the Trail
Challenge while Kingwoods OBrien-Nolen was 22 minutes better than Houstons Sylvia Ly
in 5:23:55.
Van Wyngaarden and her 13-year-old son, Will Hanson, teamed up on Saturday to
win the Half Marathon Relay in 1:35:04, while Charles Canales, Stephen Milford, Todd
ONeal and Edward Avieles won the Marathon Relay on Sunday in 2:57:36.
For more information about the Seabrook Lucky Trail Marathon, Half Marathon and
Relays, please visit www.seabrookmarathon.org.