Just over a month ago, Lilia Vazquez was preparing to be one of a small class of invited elite runners in this year's Houston Marathon.
But on Sunday, it will be Lilia's daughter, Cecilia Vazquez, running the race. Lilia was killed in a hit-and-run crash while running Dec. 13. Her death was a crushing blow to Houston's running community and Cecilia -- who will be wearing Liliia's race bib -- said her run would be a tribute to her mother.
"I want to do this to honor my mom," Cecilia said. "It was something that she was really looking forward to."
Cecilia will be joined by dozens of runners wearing bibs bearing Lilia's name and photograph.
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Mariana Vazquez, her eldest daughter, said running was a "necessity" to her mother. She took up the sport after her first husband died, and she was left raising two girls away from her native Mexico City. It wasn't just exercise; it was meditative she said. When their mother was anxious, her daughters would know she hadn't been exercising. Go running, Mariana would tell her.
"I know your mind will be clear afterwards," Marian said she would tell her mother.
Cecilia has never ran a full marathon before but has been training on her own for the past month. Still, race conditions promise to be challenging. Temperatures are expected to plummet over the weekend, and a cold front will bring strong gusts of wind.".
"I'll just be a little more bundled and I'll have a lot to think about," Cecilia said. "I suspect it's going to go by fast. When I'm training, I'm listening to music that she liked or thinking about the memories we had.
"I think it's going to be a very therapeutic run."
Lilia was hit by a pickup truck while running around 6:40 a.m. along Westpark Drive near Jeanetta.
The truck that hit Lilia didn't stop and no one has been arrested in connection to the hit and run.
In the month since the crash, police have released a bare description of the vehicle believed to have hit her: it was a black or dark-colored pickup, carrying a piece of plywood in its bed. The truck likely had damage to its front, passenger side headlight. Anyone with information about the crash is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-222-TIPS.
The family hopes that Cecelia's run will bring renewed attention to Lilila's death, and motivate someone to call the Houston Police Department with tips.
Lilia loved the Houston Marathon as she loved Houston. It's the premiere race in the city where she worked and raised her family.
"She found her talent here," Mariana said. And she gave back to it. She wasn't just a runner to many, she was an inspiration.
Lilia competed in marathons around the world. At her best, she could maintain a 7:20 pace per mile and finish a marathon at just over 3 hours, her daughters said. During some marathons, Lilia was chosen to be a pace runner. She wouldn't seek her own personal best time, but would run a race at a steady pace in order for other runners to match her and meet their own goals.
Her death caused an outpouring of grief in Houston's running community, particularly for runners who regularly train at Houston's Memorial Park, where she could often be found running in the morning.
Even as the death is still raw, the runners who wear her photo on their bibs coalesced around a promise: this year's marathon would not be run without Lilia.