Inaugural Longhorn Run Races Across Campus

By Tim Taliaferro in Blog on May 1, 2010 at 10:15 am | 4 Comments

Just as organizers envisioned, there was a beautiful sea of burnt orange underneath the Tower Saturday morning as more than 2,500 runners took flight for the first Longhorn Run 10K.

The conditions were ideal for high-energy racing, with overcast skies and a breeze to keep the air cool, and lots of peppy UT touches to keep spirits high.

Two slightly hilly courses were available to runners — a 2-mile and a 10K, both starting in front of the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center and finishing in DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Smokey the Cannon sounded the start of the 10K, and members of the Alumni Band played “Texas Fight” near the finish.

Some runners started with big foam fingers waving on their hands (in the “Hook ’em” sign, naturally). One runner even did the entire race carrying a big white flag with a Longhorn on it. He finished with a respectable time, too!

President Bill Powers was on hand to cheer the racers — his wife, Kim Heilbrun, among them. A former marathoner himself, Powers said he wished he could have entered the race too. But his jam-packed schedule doesn’t allow for serious training anymore. “Exercise is the first thing to go,” he says.

Liam O’Rourke, outgoing student body president, coordinated the event with RunTex founder Paul Carrozza. By Friday, O’Rourke was excited. “I’m pumped,” he said. “After 12 months of planning, we’re finally here.” 

The race had sold out at 2,500 by Thursday night. About 600 of those signed up for the 2-mile course, O’Rourke said, with the rest going for the 10K.

Racers finished underneath DKR’s Jumbotron, which displayed the Longhorn Run logo. They then walked through the tunnel the football team usually comes through and into the always-impressive stadium for a post-race party. (Surely there could be no cooler race finish anywhere, right?)

In the 10K, the top male finisher was Matt Wade with a time of 34 minutes, 43 seconds. He ran across the finish line with his horns up. The top female finisher was Jaime Schmidt, an assistant accounting professor in the McCombs School of Business who came in at 40 minutes, 52 seconds. (An Aggie, Jaime gave the thumbs-up at every photo stop.)

In the 2-mile, 14-year-old Elijah Gutierrez was the first male finisher in 12 minutes, 40 seconds. Brittany Marches was the female winner at 12 minutes, 51 seconds. 

Complete results are available at the official race website. Congrats to all.