January 8-14, 2025; Week in Review

With the majority of Volte gearing up for one of this coming weekend's races at the Chevron Houston Marathon, the racing card for Week 2 was light.

Kevin Baker and Katerina Savelieva - as well as Volte friend Vincent Attanucci - ran the 158th edition of the Spindle Tree parkrun 5K in east Magnolia on Saturday morning.

Baker was the first across the line as he finished second overall in 20:05.

And Katerina was the first female as she held off a pair of high school runners to grab the women's win in 25:27.

The all-time winningest female runner, Katerina Savelieva, at Spindle Tree parkrun.
(Courtesy of Spindle Tree parkrun)

It was her 15th win at Spindle Tree, bettering Kevin by three wins as he has finished first 12 times, and her seventh fastest time out of 45 races there.

Those 15 wins are the most of any female and she leads Aimee Wong and Lynn Wright, who have 11 and 10, respectively.

Meanwhile, Attanucci finished in 32:09.

He has run Spindle Tree 90 times out of the 158 races that have been put on - and might have been more if Run The Woodlands had folded sooner.

Also on Saturday, another Volte friend, Jon Walk, took to the road and ran the 10th annual Louisiana Fur and Wildlife Festival 5K in Cameron, Louisiana in 29:03 on the flat, out-and-back course.

It was a race in his 15th of 64 Louisiana parishes.

Finishing 20th overall out of 42 finishers and faster than the average time of 33:03, Jon landed in the most populous age group, where he chuckled that he was sixth of seventh.

Closing us out on Sunday, January 12 was Kate Semmelrogge Thomas in San Francisco, California where she was celebrating her birthday by competing in the San Francisco Hot Chocolate 15K.

She finished in a time of 2:11:37.

Too much fun?  No such thing for Kate Thomas (middle) and her friends at Sunday's Hot Chocolate 15K in San Francisco.  (Photo courtesy of Hot Chocolate Run)

January 1-5, 2025: Week In Review

Volte Year 13 is going to be lucky, right?

Regardless, here we go.

The race year began in Erie, Pennsylvania on Wednedsay, January 1 as the Park family woke up to four inches of snow 10 miles in from Lake Erie, but races were on at the race site which only had light rain and was just 35 degrees.

Brayden and his Dad, Jerritt, ran the Erie Running Club New Year's Day 5-Miler in 30:59 and 33:32, respectively, both good for first place age group wins, while Mom, Kristi, and sister, Riley, ran the 5K.

Kristi was the first overall woman in 27:34 while Riley finished in 29:36.

Closer to home, we had a handful of Volte friends running either Spindle Tree parkrun in east Magnolia or the Texas Half Marathon and Marathon in Kingwood.

Randall Ivins was our first friend to cross the Spindle Tree parkrun 5K finish line in 26:57, followed by Jon Walk in 29:37.  

Paul Blutt and Ken Johnson covered the distance in 31:26 and 53:49.

Thanh Dinh was third overall in the Texas Marathon in 3:13:40, while C. Stephenson-Lake was second in her age group in the half marathon in 2:04:58. 

Gretchen Dixon and her son, Zane, also ran the half.  Zane came in first in 2:04:58 while Gretchen stopped the clock in 2:33:35.

On Saturday, January 4, the next edition of the Spindle Tree parkrun 5K was held and found Kevin Baker in third overall in 20:39.

Jerritt Park, back from Erie, was fourth in 21:01, while Katerina Savelieva ran the triple-loop course in 29:17.

Volte friends Randall Ivins, Vincent Attanucci and Ken Johnson also ran.  They posted times of 27:30, 31:21 and 52:42, respectively.

At the Run Houston! Sam Houston Race Park 5K, Sherry Cameron finished in 39:45.

A pair of Volte friends won hardware there.  Alejandro Bedoya was first in his division in the 5K in 19:56, while John Slate was second in his in the 10K in 55:18.

A light, but fierce crowd at the Texas 10 Series Bridgeland races in Cypress.

Simon Campbell set a new personal best in The Resolution 5K in a time of 22:44 while Mom, Jane Cardnell, ran right with him to earn the overall female title in 22:48, pausing just a second or two to break a physical tape.  

Breaking the tape is always fun for Jane Cardnell.
(Photo courtesy of David Reynolds with Digital Knight Productions)

Volte friend Jimmie Gowton was good for a time of 48:05.

In the 5-mile race, Mike Kuykendall took first in his division in 58:06 while Donna Moran was second in hers in 1:11:28.

Erin Gowton and Ken Johnson were Volte friends in this race as Erin won first in her age group in 45:49 while Ken was third in his in 1:29:53.

And in the marquee 10-mile distance, Mark Moran and Waverly Walk won their divisions in 1:33:24 and 1:47:28, respectively.

Waverly Walk with her Dad, Jon, finish their first Texas 10 Series 10-Miler
(Photo courtesy of David Reynolds with Digital Knight Productions)

Volte friend Mark Amann was the overall winner in 58:48, while C. Stephenson-Lake and John Slate went home with hardware.  C. was first in her division in 1:21:36 while Slate grabbed third in 1:35:37.

Danny Grube finished in 1:45-even, while Jon Walk made it in with his daughter in 1:47:29.

And in the Bigfoot Classic 10K and 15K in Sugar Land at Brazos River Bend Park, courses were of the improvisational kind.

Jerritt Park's in the 10K might have been long - because a first-time volunteer led out with the bike, while the 15K appeared to be short.

Either way, both Jerritt and Volte friend Sabina Lorca won their respective distances.

Sabina Lorca-Acosta (right) with her husband, Robert, who ran the 10K
(Photo courtesy of Sabina Lorca-Acosta)

Jerritt ran away from the lead bike - as he connected back to course on the map - to stop the clock in 45:12, while Sabina won in 1:06:53 in the 15K.

And closing out the week was the 198th edition of the Sunday Night 5K at Barbara Bush Elementary in The Woodlands.

Riley Park outpaced her Dad, Jerritt, who was finishing up his fourth race in five days, by two seconds as she ran the course in 25:50. 

Layton Gill posted a time of 29:40 while Robert Morgan and Todd Hunter followed in 30:07 and 30:30, respectively.

Volte Year in Review - 2024 - Jerritt Park: Volte's Road Race King

The last of our Year In Review is Volte's racing machine, Jerritt Park.

114 races in 2023.

24 half marathons in 2024.

Even though he's posted four race finishes in the first week of the New Year already, we're awaiting his new official goal for 2025.

Seriously, though, we should all strive for the same level of excitement about staying active - and having fun doing so.

Especially when it involves family and friends, like Jerritt's does.

Volte Year in Review - 2024 - Cheryl Edwards Outlasts Mud at Brazos Bend

Another of our Year In Review mentions also happened in December as Cheryl Edwards became just the second female in Volte's 12-year history to finish a 100-mile (or more) race, joining Mimi Torrez.

The late Joe Martinez also finished a 100-miler in 2012 followed two years later by Curtis Hooper.

Multiple 100-mile finishes have also been recorded by our training partners and friends such as Ramon Rosales, Rick Cook and the Murillos - Juan, Jose and Luis.

Also noteworthy is that even though he's been an encouragement - as a multiple 100-mile finisher himself - to so many in the community, head coach Bill Dwyer noted that Cheryl's training plan was the first that he wrote the complete training plan for.

And that Cheryl followed nearly 100 percent.

While she heaped praise upon her three pacers - Melissa Holloway, Scott Cohen and Ram Rajagopalan and her coach, Cheryl made clear in her post-race report that she was not planning to add "multiple 100-mile finishes" to her life resume.

"Never again! There. I said it." she said in her post-race report.  "And this is not one of those races where in a week when the pain is gone I’ll change my mind.

"Bucket list run? Yes, and it has been checked. My body sufficiently hates me."

But Volte doesn't and admires your commitment and effort to realize an important goal and continue Volte's tradition of strong female runners.

Volte Year in Review - 2024 - Nora Dominguez Proves: Never Give Up

Volte's blessed by every runner that we come into contact with.

Even when a runner - or runners - run(s) with our "people" and do well - especially after years of trying to achieve a major goal, why we're going to celebrate with - and be happy for - them.

Nora Dominguez, who primarily runs with our Yaya Herrera, has been knocking on Boston's door for over ten years - some a little louder than others as you can see from the list below:

4:27:13 - Rock 'N Roll New Orleans Marathon '14

4:14:56 - Philadelphia Marathon '15

3:52:09 - New Jersey Marathon '16

4:00:51 - New York City Marathon '16

4:13:16 - Mountains 2 Beach Marathon (Ventura, CA) '18

3:47:46 - St. George Marathon '21

3:46:48 - Mesa (AZ) Marathon '22

4:01:20 - BMW Berlin Marathon '22

4:17:39 - Chevron Houston Marathon '23

4:12:58 - Bank of America Chicago Marathon '23

She, her husband, Ricardo Roche, and some of her training partners traveled to Valencia, Spain and had a day for the ages - 3:33:30, a PR by more than 13 minutes and a Boston Qualifier by 11 minutes and 30 seconds.

Thanks for showing us all Nora how to never give up on your goals and dreams.

Volte Year in Review - 2024 - Shining Bright at Tunnel Light Marathon

This is the midway point of our Year In Review.

From a numbers standpoint, for us here at Volte, The Woodlands Marathon still slightly eclipses the Tunnel Light Marathon, but from a performance perspective:  Tunnel Light is right on par with Houston.

A little more than eight years ago, Sandra Tezino and Laura Godfrey were guided by event pacer Scott Sebelsky to both personal bests and Boston qualifiers of 3:39:18 and 3:39:34, respectively, in the 2016 event and since then Volte has made itself at home there.

There's been seven runnings of the race since then, not including 2020, of course, and in five of those years, Volte has taken 10 or more runners to North Bend, Washington - not even counting all of the community friends that have come along or that we've met there.

Volte has posted 102 marathon finishes from 70 different runners.

Personal bests have been recorded 46 times by 38 different runners.

And there's been 50 times one of 34 different runners has returned to Texas - and a couple elsewhere - with a Boston Qualifier.

Tezino, Judith Albarran and Tammy Grado are petitioning for their own shuttle service as each have four finishes there.  

All four of Sandra's marathon finishes have resulted in Boston Qualifiers, while Judith has a BQ and three PR's and Tammy, whose four includes a half marathon finish, has a pair of BQ's and PR's.

Both of their photos from one of those finishes has graced the Volte public Facebook page you're seeing this post at.

Several more runners have made the trip two or three times.

As you can see, Tunnel Light makes the summer work we do worthwhile.

Volte Year In Review - 2024 - Tanyia Davila Completes Bear Lake Trifecta

Tanyia Davila became a part of our Volte family just a few weeks after this year's Chevron Houston Marathon, which she came in from Woodbridge, Virginia to run.

It was her first marathon of the year, but it wasn't to be her last either.

She finished seven marathons in 2024, including one where she pushed an athlete in a wheelchair for the Athletes Serving Athletes (ASA) organization.

And in addition to her Bear Lake Marathon Trifecta, Tanyia competed in a couple of interesting 26.2-mile affairs.

In mid-October, she got to run into Canada and back as part of the Detroit International Marathon and then four weeks later, she ran the Every Woman's Marathon that featured 4,184 female finishers - and just 125 men!

But the Bear Lake races, which she did with her friend, Michelle Reaves, were even more special given the elevation and temperature:

Idaho - Elevation: 5,930-6,043 ft - Temp: 47-78

Wyoming - Elevation: 6,197-6,665 ft - Temp: 50-82

Utah - Elevation: 5,927-6,037 ft - Temp: 50-83

"The trifecta was more than just races," she said.  "It was a profound journey of endurance, friendship, and personal triumph. 

"Would I recommend it? Absolutely 200%. 3 marathons, 3 states, 3 days. WE DID THAT!"

And, Tanyia, we're glad you did!