#HouMarathon Ambassadors
Marcelo Valdez – @cronicasdeunrunner
I’m 34 years of age, a proud husband, father, and back of the pack runner that has been running the streets of HOU since I moved here in 2015 from El Salvador. I run to beat myself everyday.
Michelle Morton – @mic2lee
As a legacy runner of the Chevron Houston Marathon, the city’s race has been the focal point of Michelle’s race calendar since 2011. Michelle would best define herself as an endurance athlete and a proud finisher of races ranging from fun runs to half/full/ultra marathons, and even Ironman races. The reason she runs is because it makes her feel empowered and resilient.
Fren-Mark Banes – @fmbanes21
Fren-Mark (FM) is a runner, engineer, motivator, entertainer, and taco/sushi lover. His love for running marathons started right here in Houston, with his first Chevron Houston Marathon in 2015. He now has 13 marathons under his belt, including NYC, Chicago, Boston, and 4 other marathons outside of Houston. Houston remains as one of his favorites. Follow him on social media and join his efforts in helping make our local running event as big and exciting as possible!
Wendy Larsen – @disneyhandcyclist
Wendy is a mother to two adult children, wife to an ultramarathoner, survivor of a major trauma, cancer survivor, and lives with several rare genetic diseases that affect her mobility. A long time runner, she transitioned to wheelchair athletics in 2017 and completed her first full marathon at the Chevron Houston Marathon in 2018 as a handcyclist where she qualified for the Boston Marathon. She has qualified for Boston each year since and completed multiple marathons throughout the country, but Houston will always be her favorite race. In addition to racing, she is a volunteer and patient advocate in the rare disease community.
Veronica Flores-Paniagua – @vxflores
Veronica Flores-Paniagua is an external affairs advisor for Chevron. She’s a Corpus Christi native and a graduate of the University of Houston. When she’s not running, she’s schlepping her son to band practice or her daughter to a softball tournament.
Deborah Loreto – @deborahrunlover
Running is my life. Running has saved my soul. I live to inspire other people and show them how running can positively change their life and become the best version of themselves.
Viviano Landin – @run_with_viv
I’ve been running for about 6 years and I enjoy being outdoors. I also spend a lot of time fitness training and being in the gym. I run with many different running clubs such as, Kung Fu Running Club, (EFC) Electric Flight Crew, Harriers, City Centre Running Club and RacePace.
Christine Parizo – @runoutofthebox
Christine is a content marketing writer, run coach in training, and running and CrossFit blogger whose goal is to inspire other women to just move. She started running after the birth of her second child – and the launch of her freelance business! – to relieve stress and stay fit, which blossomed into a love of the sport. Since she started in 2012, she’s run too many 5Ks and 10Ks to count, 15+ half marathons, and one full marathon – the Chevron Houston Marathon in 2019. Her favorite distance is the half marathon, but she’s looking forward to seeing what she’s capable of this January when she tackles the marathon distance again! Christine is also an avid CrossFitter, coffee drinker, and taco connoisseur who lives in League City with her husband, two children, and two cats.
Julia Vegas – @juliavgeas
I have run 22 full marathons, including 6 Houston marathons and 3 world majors (Chicago ‘14, NYC ‘17, and Boston ‘15, ‘16, ‘17, ‘18, ‘19) and have run sub 3:00 (2:58) twice. I have qualified for Boston 21 times. I work full time for Hays CISD as an elementary PE coach. I have two kids, Jackson (9) and Reagan (8). I’ll be running my 7th Chevron Houston Marathon, hoping to better my time of 2:58 that I ran in Houston in 2020.
Letty Uribe – @therunningwinemom
Letty is a mother of two girls and an avid runner from San Antonio, TX. She has been running for 6 years and loves the marathon distance. The Chevron Houston Marathon was her very first marathon in 2016, she qualified for Boston in 2019 and cannot wait to run her 6th consecutive Houston Marathon in 2021. She is also looking forward to running Boston in 2020.
Joe Balderas – @lobojoe
Joe (friends know him as Lobojoe) has been running for 12 years and has coached both cross country/track & field for 5 years. His passion towards running has only grown over the years from jumping from the 5K and 10K races to later running 16 half marathons, including running over 7 marathons with Boston and NYC being 2 of them. His love for running lead to being able to help motivate students to achieve their running goals within coaching and teaching them to believe the impossible can happen when someone wants it the most. Running is a huge part of his life and it has made him the runner he is today and has allowed him to meet so many other friends everywhere along the way in his journey.
Aranzazu Foyo – @zuzu.foyo