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| Run Thru The Woods race director Roxanne Davis with Volte founder Bill Dwyer. (Photo courtesy of Jon Walk.) |
Where do we start?
Well, how about Wednesday night, November 27, in Lafayette, Louisiana?
Kim Biggerstaff and her children competed in the Camellia Crossing 5K, billed as Acadiana’s fastest 5K which benefitted Miles Perret Cancer Services. Kim covered the 3.1 miles in 30 minutes and three (3) seconds, while her daughter, Anna-Claire, 12, and son, Campbell, 8, both won their age group in respective times of 23:05 and 29:18.
Of course, the marquee event for the group was the 24th annual GE Run Thru The Woods, but the day started in Stow, Massachusetts as Erica Cahill toed the line at the 7th annual Stow Gobbler 5K, where the temperature at start time was 25 degrees.
“I was absolutely freezing and they started the race 20 minutes late,” she said.
Nonetheless, Cahill, 48, brought a little Volte cheer to the community - located 20 miles west of Boston - by throwing down a time of 21:55 to take second in an expansive 40-59 age group.
She was also the seventh overall female finisher of a race which was won by professional triathlete couple Jarrod Shoemaker and Alicia Kaye.
Moving west to Chattanooga, Tennessee, Katie Jackson, 35, finished one spot out of the top 25% of her 35-39 age group as she completed the SportsBarn Turkey Trot 8K in 43:06.
She was 14th out of 55 finishers in her age group.
Derek Bailey, 32, was the next to pick up hardware as he met his goal of breaking 40 minutes in the Forest Park Medical Center North Texas Turkey Trot 10K in Frisco, Texas.
One of just 16 athletes on the morning to finish in under 40 minutes, Derek easily won his 30-34 age group in 39:55 as he noted that “racing unhurt is a beautiful thing.”
Next up for Derek? He’s going after a sub-3:00 finish at the Chevron Houston Marathon and he expressed his thanks to “Bill Dwyer, Chris Weir, Brandon Sager, Kate Looney, Brian Jackson, Mayra Caamano and the Volte crew” for putting him in a position for his Thanksgiving Day age group win.
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| Debra Myers and her son Nick in Austin at the ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot 5-Miler (Photo courtesy of Deb Myers) |
Meanwhile, four Volte athletes headed to Uptown Park near the Galleria in Houston to take part in the 21st annual TXU Energy Turkey Trot 10K.
Lauren Hoffart led the group with a time of 59:18 while Rolin Thomas posted a 1:14:15 showing and Kate Thomas and Denise Fessler finished in identical times of 1:19:56.
The kiddos, though, got things started close to home at Run Thru The Woods with the one-mile Kids run.
Eight-year-old Emerson Blevins led the way with a 9:31 mile followed by six-year-old Jack Tresaugue in 10:01, 12-year-old Davis Cooper in 10:20, seven-year-old Luke Tresaugue in 11:31 and the youngest of them all, four-year-old Kash Blevins in 12:05.
And according to Kate Looney, it wasn’t the kids that had all of the fun either.
“Run Thru The Woods is a recent Thanksgiving tradition, but one Bob and I really enjoy,” she said. “I love seeing running buddies both old and new at this race and it's always a great turnout from the Spring/The Woodlands running community.
“The weather was nice and cool and set up for fast times this year. And of course, the pancakes and hot coffee at the end are the best way to top off the morning!”
Oh yeah, she didn’t even mention her own piece of hardware.
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| We can assure you that Kate does run with her eyes wide open. (Photo courtesy of Jon Walk.) |
Looney, 33, used a personal best 33:34 to take second in her age group which was won by former pro triathlete and University of Minnesota swimmer Emily (Deppe) Finanger.
Third behind Houston’s Susan Waldau and Tempe, Arizona’s Catherine Sandvig, Geri, 65, finished with a chip time of 52:25.
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| Justin Bui seems to be saying, "Save me two pancakes in the post-race food line!" Or possibly, "I'm beating my time from last year by more than two minutes!" He ran 34:35 last year. 31:56 this year. (Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer.) |
McGill’s daughters - 14-year-old Regan and 27-year-old Amanda Williams - completed the distance in 54:57 and 56:19, respectively as the McGill family was one of four parent-daughter efforts in the five-mile race for Volte on Thursday. Michelle went back out and ran both in to the finish line.
Mike Csikos, 44, paced his 13-year-old daughter Michaela around the course in 45:12.
Jennifer Rowe, 45, and her 11-year-old daughter May finished in 50:12 while Jon Walk, 46, guided Waverly, his 18-year-old daughter who’s a freshman at Liberty University in Virginia, to a 52:50 finish, which was over a seven (7)-minute personal best for her.
Three mother-child teams split duty between the five-miler and the three-miler.
Jill Tresaugue,38, finished the five-miler in 42:41 while her 11-year-old son, Ryan, was sixth in his age group in 19:25.
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| Tammy might have been all thumbs up here, but that was the secret sign that she was going to drop #2208. And she did. By five seconds at the finish. (Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer.) |
Kelly Whiddon, 36, and daughter Natalie, 10, teamed up to run 46:19 and 23:11, respectively. Natalie was eighth in her 10-14 age group in the three-miler.
Marisol Maresca, 41, and her daughter Kaitlyn, 9, wrapped up Volte’s family connections on Thursday by sharing a time of 40:09 in the three-miler.
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| From left to right, Sandra Jones, Nicole Mikelonis, Juliee Sparks, Julie Pearce, Stacy Roberson (Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer.) |
Jerritt Park – 34:51, Alli Choi – 39:03, Kelley Davis – 39:41, Steven Lopez – 40:47, Stacy Roberson – 42:46, Jon Yarborough – 43:07, Colleen Sager – 43:37, Paul Vita – 44:29, Rich Cooper – 44:39, Sandra Jones – 45:23, Nicole Mikelonis – 47:41, Julie Pearce – 48:10, Tabitha Young – 48:14, Llana Bingham – 48:42, Eileen Flynn – 58:57
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| We think Steven Lopez took home Thursday's prize of the "Biggest Smile" on the course. (Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer.) |
Alli Choi was home on Thanksgiving Break from the University of North Texas in Denton.
Jon Yarborough bounced back nicely after a 2:15:43 half marathon the previous Saturday, November 23, at the Shiner Beer Run Half Marathon in Shiner.
And, as always, a group of Volte friends were ever present in the five-miler with Jennifer Worthington, 42, winning the 40-44 age group in 35:01. Meanwhile, Chris Weir, 29, led all of our male Volte friends with a sixth-place age group finish of 31:51.
The rest of our Volte friends posted the following times:
Will Ott – 34:56, Kashay Mendez – 38:43, Jon Braunersreuther – 40:38, Chad Giardina – 41:02, Tony Allison – 46:14, Amy Allison – 46:15, Fran Blanton – 47:54, Hollie Quigley – 47:55, Barry Blanton – 48:29, Denna Johnson – 55:08, Tad Chenet – 57:09, Rhonda Chenet – 57:24
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