Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Flat, Not So Flat and Tri: A Weekend in Volte, USA

Flat, not so flat and splash and dash were the themes involving our Volte athletes who competed this past weekend.

Katy was the scene of a hot, inaugural Watermelon Dash 5K and 10K on Saturday in the Cane Island area.

And Lillian Evans’ effort in the 5K left it a bit hotter.

Defeating the next closest master’s finisher by 30 seconds, Lillian was the fourth overall female and first overall master’s female to cross the finish line, doing so in 24:59.

From 141 feet above sea level to 9,097 is where Erica Coleman picked things up later in the morning.

She ran the Run The Rockies Trail Half Marathon, produced by the town of Frisco, Colorado, which included 250 feet of climbing from miles 5 to 9 – and then coming back down in the next two.

Erica was fourth in her age group, just missing third by less than a minute (50 seconds, to be exact), as she stopped the clock in 2:32:32.

Can't look much happier than that with a race than this shot of Erica Coleman from Saturday
(Photo courtesy of Erica Coleman)
Former The Woodlands Running Club runner Sydney Zywicki, who used to live here in the area with her husband, Ben, was the third overall female in the 10K in 54:13.

Back on the east coast on Sunday, August 11, Dana Formon returned home to Morrisville, North Carolina after receiving her Ph.D. from Sam Houston State University and competed in the Rex Healthcare Wellness Sprint Triathlon in Raleigh.

Dana was third in her age group in 1:07:18.

She swam the 250-yard in Rex Wellness’ lap pool in less than six minutes, biked a 10-mile course that featured some “nice flats and a few small climbs” in 40:41 and finished with a two-mile run through the northernmost parts of Wake County in 18:01.

Great job ladies – and thanks for representing Volte so well!

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Sgt. Joe Friday Says "Just The Results, Volte!"

The TV show Dragnet - those of you under about 45 will probably need to Google it - used to start out with, "Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent."

Well, as we start rolling into the fall racing season in a short while, you'll notice the changes in some of the names here - and, over time, we'll work to introduce them throughout the remainder of 2019.

After a little respite in racing activity in the month of July after the Baytown Bud Heat Wave on the Fourth, things will once again get busy as our athletes - race for fun or as checkpoints for their upcoming fall marathons.

And, as usual, we got around a little bit.  :-)

Alta, Wyoming is not likely the newest location of the store that goes by the same name, but it was where our Bonnie Scholz and her sister Michelle Fregia competed in the Ragnar Trail Tetons.

The duo competed as part of an Open Female division team of eight - named "Let's Get Physically Exhausted" - which covered 126.4 total miles over three trails of four (Jolly Green Giant), 5.3 (Buffalo Solder) and 6.5 (Grand View) miles.

Contested over Friday and Saturday, July 26-27 near the Grand Targhee Resort, the team covered the distance in 32 hours, 39 minutes and 30 seconds (32:39:30).

The next day in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, Carrie Hyde got back to racing in preparation for late October's Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, put on by our friend race director Alan Brookes.

And she was happy to do so, she noted, after a five-month hiatus from running due to "acclimating to weather conditions and minus-stupid temperatures".

She posted a time of 1:34:44 for the Tely 10 Miler.

Produced by the Newfoundland and Labrador Athletics Association, this year's Tely 10 was its 92nd annual running.  (Ah, I don't think we'll be here for year 92 of the Texas 10 Series, but maybe Willie will!)

"I ran a steady and conservative pace," she said.  "No records broken and happy with the time as finishing strong was the goal! 

That she did, along with 3,693 other finishers.

Another steady, conservative effort was sought -- and obtained -- by Waverly Walk as she ran the third annual Canton Half Marathon in east Texas on Sunday, August 4 with her Dad.

Waverly, whose early training runs for October's Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. have been right at 11 minutes per mile, delivered a similar result of 2:27:24 in extremely humid conditions.

The day before, Volte had an excellent group of runners and friends participate in the fifth annual Southern Star Brewing Company 5K in Conroe.

The Run In Texas-produced race had its most number of finishers ever, and our folks got a little challenge in being part of an event that offered a bit more elevation change than July's pancake-flat Bud Heat Wave.

Jerritt Park led our Volte runners with a time of 22:50 while Stephanie Reed took first place in her 10-year age group with a time of 24:05.

Jerritt's son Brayden posted a time of 24:51 while the Register family - husband Aaron first in 25:38 and wife Anita in 28:22 - crossed the finish line next.

Sharon Mitchell notched a new PR - by a little more than a minute with a time of 28:48 beating Rob Myers to the line by about a half a minute as he cranked out a 29:14 effort.

Tim Russell and Amanda Becker followed in 34:13 and 37:03, respectively, while Alfredo and Letty Gonzalez covered the course in 42:33 and 44:07.

Alfredo has finished all five years that the race has been held.

Volte alumni Brian Jackson was second in his age group in 19:59.

Mark Amann led all our Volte friends with an overall win of 17:47.  It is the second year that Mark has won the race, having done so two years ago.

Chris Weir and Paul Blutt cracked 21 minutes with efforts of 20:15 and 20:36, respectively,  The latter time earned Paul a third place age group finish.

Kim White got in under 25 minutes in 24:21, but while Julie Stevenson and Sonia Carr were next, both with age group winnings to show for it.

Julie took second in 25:02 and Sonia was third in her division in 25:06.

Lisa Shulze ran well in 26:56, while Mary-Ellen Wilderman-Hay and her husband, Brad, finished in 28:43 and 29:58, respectively, as the Fleet Feet of Greater Houston team was out in support of Run In Texas race directors Bill and Karen Gardner.

Seven Hills Running Club's Ken Johnson of Huntsville, like Alfredo, has finished all five Southern Star Brewing Company 5Ks.  He noted on his blog that he was the oldest finisher of 558 and finished in 46:05.

Even though he said he was three minutes slower than last year, he noted, "The beer was good and it was great visiting with a lot of friends."

Ken always comes back for more, though.

Out west in San Leandro, California, Kate Semmelrogge-Thomas finished the Summer Breeze 10K in 1:32:32.

Volte wrapped up the weekend with The Woodlands Running Club's Sunday Night 5K from Barbara Bush Elementary.

Jerritt Park and Mayra Caamano were the race's overall winners in 22:28 and 23:53, respectively.

Laura Godfrey was not far behind Caamano in 24:01, despite having run 12 miles in training earlier in the day.
Godfrey gets over 15 miles on Sunday with a sharp effort during the Sunday Night 5K.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)
She noted, after crossing the finish line and looking at her GPS, "Exactly 3.1."  (Say "thank you, Nine Volte" for his measuring wheel.)

Volte friend Curtis Barton led a group of four runners across in the race's 27th minute as he finished in 27:11.

Faith Craig followed in 27:27 while Robert Dempsey and Volte friend Lisa Schulze finished together in 27:50.

Faith says two thumbs up to a strong showing during the Sunday Night 5K.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)
The two multi-day running streakers - Vincent Attanucci and Ken Johnson - stopped the clock in 31:06 and 44:21, respectively, while Letty and Alfredo Gonzalez walked the course in 51:13.