Volte – and friends - celebrated too.
The records were personal, friendships strengthened and journeys successful.
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| Tammy Grado, Brandon Sager and Michelle McGill are all smiles after Chicago PR's on Sunday (Photo courtesy of Brandon Sager) |
Yet on Sunday, she conquered her second straight Marathon Majors course in Chicago to send her below the 3:40 barrier for the first time ever – including her 11th sub 4-hour time in her last 13 marathons -- with a shiny new personal best time of 3:39:05.
She said it was “an amazing race” and credited perfect weather, a great course and “my family and friends for all their support”.
It should also be noted that Michelle negative split the back half in 1:48:47 after going 1:50:18 for the first 13.1 miles.
Michelle’s complete marathoning history, according to marathonguide.com, follows:
4:43:05 – Chevron Houston Marathon, January 14, 2007
4:29:01 – Chevron Houston Marathon, January 13, 2008
4:46:41 – Dallas White Rock Marathon, December 14, 2008
4:32:02 – Chevron Houston Marathon, January 18, 2009
4:33:33 – Austin Marathon, February 15, 2009
4:23:09 – Dallas White Rock Marathon, December 13, 2009
3:58:27 – Rock ‘N’ Roll San Antonio Marathon, November 14, 2010
3:54:45 – Dallas White Rock Marathon, December 5, 2010
3:58:38 – Chevron Houston Marathon, January 30, 2011
3:58:30 – Austin Marathon, February 20, 2011
4:02:32 – Nike 26.2 Women’s Marathon, San Francisco, CA, October 16, 2011
4:10:18 – Rock ‘N’ Roll San Antonio Marathon, November 13, 2011
3:54:15 – Chevron Houston Marathon, January 15, 2012
3:49:23 – The Woodlands Marathon, March 3, 2012
3:53:57 – Rock ‘N’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon, December 2, 2012
3:47:36 – Chevron Houston Marathon, January 13, 2013
3:48:55 – The Woodlands Marathon, March 2, 2013
3:44:39 – Boston Marathon, April 15, 2013
3:39:05 – Chicago Marathon, October 13, 2013
The PR’s, though, kept coming as steady as Chicago late 1970s chart toppers.
Screaming to the top of the PRs, though, was Tammy Grado’s seven minute-plus reduction from her initial breakthough time of 4:31:44 at last year’s Chevron Houston Marathon.
“Tammy was very consistent in her training for Chicago, which set her up for a successful day,” said Volte founder Bill Dwyer.
Sunday’s 4:24:09 by Grado was followed closely by Leanne Rosser’s 4:32:18, which was a couple of minutes better from her 4:34:35 showing in the City of Brotherly Love at the Philadelphia Marathon last November.
The duo ran together for the first 30 kilometers before Leanne gutted out a PR despite significant cramping in the last 7.6 miles.
Chicago, though, became the City of Volte Love.
Amber Brock ran the entire way with one of her best friends, Jami Kuder, to record a 4:39:43 finish. Jami was credited with a time that was one second faster as she finished her 16th career marathon.
The Windy City welcomed Colleen Sager back to marathoning after the birth of her and her husband, Brandon’s, first child. The 4:59:09 time was her fifth career marathon finish – all in different major U.S. cities. Nothing small-time for Colleen!
Colleen’s complete marathoning history, according to marathonguide.com, follows:
4:43:39 – Dallas White Rock Marathon, December 5, 2010
4:53:47 – Austin Marathon, February 20, 2011
5:12:20 – Nike 26.2 Women’s Marathon, San Francisco, CA, October 16, 2011
4:32:09 – Chevron Houston Marathon, January 15, 2012
4:59:09 – Chicago Marathon, October 13, 2013
With the ING New York City Marathon on the horizon, Gabby Brockett got in not only a nice long run, but also shepherded Eileen Flynn and Marisol Maresca every step of the way to their first marathon finishes ever – in 6:22:54.
We’re blessed to have many friends here at Volte – and we enjoy celebrating our friends’ accomplishments as well too.
Brian Schultz and Lauren Hoffart from The Woodlands Team In Training program finished Chicago in 3:39:29 and 4:46:40, respectively. It was Lauren’s first marathon ever. Congratulations and Go Team!
Three years ago, Brandon Sager punched his first-ever ticket to Boston on the same day of that year’s Chicago Marathon on October 10, 2010 (or better known as “10/10/10”) with a 3:09-even showing at a small marathon in Wichita, Kansas.
Since then, that screeching noise you’ve been hearing has been Brandon’s nails on the sub-2:50 chalkboard. He’s clawed away three 2:50-ish efforts in the last 19 months.
Like the others before him above, Brandon broke through the standard with a superlative 2:49:27 effort that saw his 5K splits varying no more than a minute from start (19:33; first 5K) to finish (20:32; last 5K).
“Thanks for all of the training support, Finish Strong Coaching,” Sager said post-race. “And help with logging the miles, Ken Reiger, Chris Weir and Derek Bailey, The Woodlands Running Club and Volte.”
Brandon’s complete marathoning history, according to marathonguide.com, follows:
3:38:06 – Chevron Houston Marathon, January 17, 2010
3:09:00 – Prairie Fire Wichita Marathon, October 10, 2010
2:59:37 – Chevron Houston Marathon, January 30, 2011
3:00:16 – Boston Marathon, April 18, 2011
2:53:22 – Chevron Houston Marathon, January 15, 2012
2:55:15 – Marine Corps Marathon, October 28, 2012
2:52:52 – Chevron Houston Marathon, January 13, 2013
2:49:27 – Chicago Marathon, October 13, 2013
Not to be missed on Sunday -- in a successful weekend by many -- was the effort of a great personal friend and inspiration to us here at Volte.
Team Strive founder and Finish Strong Coaching coach Kimberly Mac Namee, 42, qualified for the Chevron Houston Marathon as a local elite invited runner for the second straight year.
After winning the master’s division at this January’s Aramco Half Marathon, Kim finished third overall on Sunday and first masters – in 1:03:45 – at the Space City 10-Miler in Clear Lake to punch her ticket as the fastest 40-49 finisher under the race’s 1:10:19 qualifying standard.
She will be running the marathon for the first time at Houston since 2004 when she finished in 2:47:30 to qualify for the United States Olympic Team Trails that April in St. Louis, Missouri (where she ran 2:54:16).
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