Pacing, Racing and Training The Volte Way

As two of our core groups get ready for this weekend’s racing action in The Woodlands at Ten For Texas and in Chicago for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, Volte runners and friends were still busy this past weekend, albeit in much fewer numbers.

Kelli Medina, 35, of Montgomery, beat the midnight clock at Walt Disney World’s The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, which started at 10 p.m. 

She scared back the dark – and the clock - with a 1:25:37 time that was 17^th in a 35-39 age group field of 1,002 female finishers.  (The race itself had 9,478 finishers, of which 6,132 were women.) 

The Woodlands’ Justin Bui, 24, who runs with Volte on Saturday mornings, was 8^th in his 18-24 division with a time of 1:16:35.

Steven Lopez, 46, of The Woodlands, traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota for Sunday’s Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon and returned home with a 4:13:36 time for his efforts – a few minutes ahead of the field’s average time of 4:17:36, but his performance far exceeded average says Volte founder Bill Dwyer.

“He’s been battling injuries,” said Dwyer.  “He runs good when he’s not hurt and not well when he’s hurt.  Juliee (Sparks, his coach) has done a great job balancing his training and he just started feeling good the week before Twin Cities.”

Lopez shared with his coach that we was very happy with his time.

“I promised myself that I wouldn't race it given all the injuries I've had and I didn't want to suffer another one. So, given that I ran it like a training run, I'm happy with the 4:13 time,” he said.  “Also, it was hilly like Flintridge for the first 18 miles and then a steady climb to mile 26 followed by a fast downhill to the finish.  So, I'm happy that it went as well as it did!”

Sparks agreed saying, “I am so proud, and excited to see what he can do in a race!”

According to marathonguide.com and its tracking of Steven’s career marathoning history below, you might say it’s pretty bright.

4:13:36 – Twin Cities (MN) Marathon, Minneapolis-St. Paul, October 6, 2013
4:02:55 – Chevron Houston Marathon, January 13, 2013
4:26:20 – Rock ‘N’ Roll San Antonio Marathon, November 11, 2012
3:46:18 – The Woodlands (TX) Marathon, March 3, 2012
3:47:05 – Chevron Houston Marathon, January 15, 2012
4:06:11 – Walt Disney Marathon, Lake Buena Vista, FL, January 9, 2011
4:48:55 – Walt Disney Marathon, Lake Buena Vista, FL, January 11, 2009

After an easy 8-mile training run Saturday morning with fellow Chicago Marathon teammates Michelle McGill, Amber Brock and Tammy Grado, Leanne Rosser resisted the temptation to push the pace Sunday morning at the Monster Mash Dash 5K as she helped her friend, Dawn Johnson, to her first ever 5K finish – just beating the rain that deluged Sam Houston Race Park shortly thereafter.

Odom and Caamano into the finish at Sunday night's The Woodlands Running Club 5K.

Later that evening, Dave Odom returned to racing after his knee surgery in March at The Woodlands Running Club Sunday Night 5K as teammate Mayra Caamano helped pace Dave to a new post-surgical PR of 25:15. 

More good things to come for Dave on his continued road of recovery.

Leading the TWRC Sunday Night 5K was Volte’s Jarritt Park, who jetted into the parking lot with a winning time of 21:22.  Marisol Maresca, who will be one of the many Volte runners in Chicago on Sunday, ran the 5K with her 8-year-old daughter Kaitlyn in 43:45. 

She was one of many youngsters, including numerous Volte children, that logged miles Sunday evening as part of The Woodlands Running Club’s Juniors Program.

Long time community supporter and Volte friend Jon Walk ran the first 2.5 miles easy with Leanne and Dawn before embracing the cooler temperatures and the rain that followed in recording a nice 1:31:41 in the Monster Mash Dash 15K as part of his preparation for the Cape Cod Marathon later this month.