Volte With Some Grand Finishes In December

December proved to be busier than ever for Volte as well as our family and friends as we entered the holiday and Christmas season.

So many great performances to wrap-up a spectacular 2017.

One which saw new runners join our group as well as an expansion of those who are friendly to Volte and work collaboratively to foster a great spirit within our local athletic communities.

The first Saturday in December, the 2nd, saw Jerritt Park and his son Brayden travel to New Caney for the Tavola Reindeer Run 5K where Dad chased down a time of 20:40 while son was a 26:32 finisher.

A few states away, Lauren Hoffart was completing the 12 South Winter Warm-Up 6K in Nashville, Tennessee in 31:04. 

You can watch Lauren’s finish here.

The next morning, Sunday, December 3, in San Antonio at the Rock ‘N Roll San Antonio Half Marathon, Brian Schultz dropped a 1:47:58 time while Volte friends Mary-Ellen Wilderman-Hay and Brad Hay finished in 1:48:25 and 2:30:07, respectively.

Volte friend Sabina Lorca ran the marathon in 4:18:10.

At Duessen Park in east Houston, a great group of Volte women participated in the Run Girl Half Marathon and Relay.

Nobody can ever accuse Leanne Rosser of not having friends.  Lots of them ran Run Girl 13.1 or the 5K.
(Photo courtesy of Tim Moss)

Meredith Moss led us individually with a second-place age group winning time of 1:35:14, but the relay team of Leanne Rosser and Allison Urvan – aka “Hot Mess” - put together a time of 1:34:51 to win the Relay division.

Volte friends Tina Saims and Griselda Borrero were second and third, respectively, in their age group divisions with times of 1:41:43 and 1:51:14. 

Volte friend Savannah Wiggins ran with and posted the same time as Borrero.

Wow! 22-minute personal best from Monse Louimeus at Run Girl 13.1
(Photo courtesy of Jon Walk)

Even though Monse Louimeus didn’t place in her division, she still cranked out a 22-minute plus PR with a blazing time of 1:48:24.

Naika Vargas and Mayra Caamano – aka “Chat Noir” - teamed up on a 2:04:51 half marathon showing in the Relay division.

Marta Mixa was second in her age group group in 2:13:30 while she was stalked on the course by Dawn Johnson who had a personal best of 2:15:43.

It was Johnson's fourth career half marathon, but she noted that it was her first half marathon to run alone – and competitively.

Much to the delight of co-race directors Carrie Godfrey and Jana Landry, Leanne brought a host of women to the race.  They included Alicia Bush, Alyssa Adams, Amber Harrison, Anne Redondo, Brandy Sheltraw, Brooke Perkins, Cheryl Johnson, Darcy McLinden , Dawn Sharber, Guy Amabelle, Jessy Orlando, Kim Sizemore, Madison Brown, Maria Cruz, Melissa Michelle, Patti Galvan, Roz Mcburney, Sandra Cason, Sarah Trout and Tori Brandum.

While our head coach Bill Dwyer traveled to Sacramento, California to witness Amanda Cruise’s effort at the California International Marathon, Volte had just more than 25 runners participate in one of the four races at the last Texas 10 Series race of 2017 in Conroe.

In the 5K, Isaac Rodriguez, Judith Albarran’s son, was the first across the line in 23:47.  The Spring High School student led Brayden Park, who put down a sterling time of 24:32, while Judith herself finished in 25:02. 

Jimmy Baker stopped the clock in 34:39 while Keri Amador ran with her husband, Oswaldo, and they finished together in 35:19.

Tim Russell led us in the five-miler in 44:12 while Llana Bingham won her division with a time of 47:23.

Rich Cooper and Lisa Johnson finished in 50:58 and 1:01:59, respectively, while Volte friends Ray and Diana Sarno ran together in 1:07:17.  Ray won his age group while Dianna was third in hers.

Five age group winners in the 10-mile race with Ken Rieger taking second in his division in 1:06:04.
Also with second-place division finishes were Rip Reynolds (1:07:50), Landa Wright (1:21:01) and George Rux (1:27:04).

Jerritt Park was third in his in 1:11:26.

Volte friends Mike Menster, Patrick Wills and Maygen Ritchie got in the winning mood too.

Menster was the first Masters finisher in 1:02:07, while Wills was first in his age group in 1:03:45 while Ritchie was third in hers in 1:28:17.

Laura Hanyzewski making Texas 10 Conroe look easy.
(Photo courtesy of Layton Gill)

Volte was rounded out by Todd Hunter - 1:14:00, Gregg Harris - 1:16:05, Laura Hanyzewski - 1:25:03, Yaya Herrera - 1:30:37, Mike Kuykendall - 1:31:37, Brian Hanyzewski - 1:32:29, Dana Formon - 1:36:28, Paul Vita - 1:42:57, Desna McDonald - 1:56:16, Cassandra Roschen - 1:56:43, Amanda Becker - 2:05:14 and Alfredo Gonzalez - 2:11:10.

Volte friends also included Edson Jones - 1:20:56, Mary Garcia - 1:29:43, Cristina Gray - 1:35:47 and Ken Johnson - 2:33:07.

Alfredo Gonzalez gets Texas 10 Conroe done in the now retro Volte shirt.
(Photo courtesy of Layton Gill)

If you’re feeling lucky, you should stay close to Desna McDonald as she won the $100 post-race cash prize drawing for a random 10-mile finisher for the third time this year.

Mike Kuykendall netted himself a 9-minute personal best, while Hunter, Herrera and Russell had all run 20 as part of their training for the Chevron Houston Marathon the day before.

Brayden Park wrapped things up by participating in the Lil’ Tex Kids 1-Mile before dad Jerritt came back out that evening --- in fact, the only one – for the very cold, wet The Woodlands Running Club Sunday Night 5K in 22:45. 

Special thanks to Leanne Rosser, who helped out to make sure that the race was produced.

We all get to cheer on Amanda Cruise in a couple of years at the 2020 Olympic Trials Marathon as she rocked the CIM course with a qualifying and palindrome-like time of 2:44:42.

Amanda Cruise on a 6:18 per mile or better cruise control to an OTQ time.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

“One of the most exciting times I have ever experienced was seeing Amanda running past me at 26 miles knowing that she was going to make it,” said Volte head coach Bill Dwyer.  “She got the time on the first try.”

A little bit of Amanda’s story – and some more of Dwyer’s comments – will be in the January edition of Texas Runner and Triathlete magazine.

“As I mentioned for the article,” he said. “Plan A was safe and wonder.  Plan B was go for it and know … and she made it.”

We’re all elated for Amanda.

You can read her race report here.

The hits kept coming, though, the following weekend.

Steven Lopez got state number 15 with a 5:08:36 finish at the Rocket City Marathon on Saturday, December 9 in Huntsville, Alabama.

It pays to know the course as Juan Flores stayed to it (after a pre-race warmup on the route), while others veered off in error, and he was first overall at the Arthritis Foundation Jingle Bell Run 5K in The Woodlands that same morning in 19:14.

Marta Mixa finished in 36:01.

Can you run 50 miles dressed like that?  Bonnie Scholz can and did.
(Photo courtesy of Trail Racing Over Texas)

After a 50K a couple of weekends before, Bonnie Scholz tackled her first 50-miler at Brazos Bend in Needville with 9-hour and 30-minute finish.

Plenty of our friends were in action as well as Vantage Point Endurance founder Ronnie Delzer was the overall winner in the Brazos Bend 100-miler in 13:40:57.

Juan and Jose Murillo both ran the 50-miler in 12:24:23 and 12:24:25, respectively.

Luis covered the half marathon in 1:37:19 while Houston Harrier Adrienne Langelier finished in 1:39:29.

The next day, Sunday, December 10, more runners went long.

Chris Weir was second in his age group at the Fort Bend Kia 30K in Sugar Land in 1:54:24 while Volte friend Patrick Wills came into Sugar Land Town Square in 2:09:21.

Gutty performance from Mayra Caamano at the BCS Marathon
(Photo credit by Bill Dwyer)

At the BCS Marathon, Mayra Caamano was very close to re-punching her ticket to Boston with a 3:49:59 showing to lead Volte there while Ruth Perez and Faith Craig ran steady for finishes of 5:27:37 and 5:41:15, respectively.

Volte friend Shawna Kent crossed the finish line in 4:28:03.

Reaction like that will net Mike another BCS Marathon billboard appearance some time soon!
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

“Sunshine” Mike Csikos led us in the BCS Half Marathon in 1:37:46 followed by Brian Schultz, who snagged a third place age group award with his time of 1:43:04, and Randy Harris, who was back at it post-Greece in 1:44:45.

Wil Cole finished in 1:51:38, followed closely by his wife Lauren and daughter Jen, who finished in 1:54:10 and 1:54:16, respectively.

Lauren Hoffart, Llana Bingham and Tammy Grado also ran the half marathon in 2:03:45, 2:15:58 and 2:16:20.

Our Volte friends were led by Rick Cook, who put down a blazing time of 1:31:25 good for second in his 50-54 age group.  Arron Kent followed in 1:40:01.

Ray Sarno and Ken Johnson represented Huntsville with times of 3:05:44 and 3:10:51, respectively, while Leah Gonzales wrapped us all up in Aggieland in 3:11:06.

And we wrapped up 2017 with a little hustle in Galveston.

Volte friend Shelby Williams was the third overall female in the Santa Hustle Half Marathon behind former UH Cougar Madison Brown and Beaumont’s Virginia Leonardi in 1:32:22, while Meredith Moss picked up her second first place age group award in three weeks with a time of 1:42:06.

Volte friends Jon Walk and Ken Johnson finished in 2:22:08 and 3:05:23. 

Ken finished his 1,000th race wearing bib number 1000, which was crudely put together after the race management company left the original bib in its offices in Illinois.  (Walk estimates he is in the almost 700-race neighborhood.)

In the 5K, well, a hotel employee decided to hustle a bit too.

We’ll let Keri Amador take the story from here:

“They botched the 5k course for the first 20 plus runners and sent us to the wrong finish line,” she said.  “It would have been a PR for me.

“They said a hotel employee moved the barricade to get his golf cart through and never moved it back, making the course look like a loop.  So all the top 20 or so finishers got sent in wrong direction.

“After about seven minutes of standing around saying, “That doesn't seem right”, we ran and finished at the right finish line.

“So my official time says 29 minutes, but I know in my heart it should have been around 22.”

And as Paul Harvey would say, now you know the rest of the story on Keri’s official time of 29:07.

Volte friend Griselda Borrero enjoyed the atmosphere after her stellar performance at RunGirl with an easy 43:26 finish as well.

Volte Closes November Being Thankful

Late November in Volte, USA, especially the weekend before Thanksgiving, often means traveling to run.

And did we ever.

Spain.  Uruguay.  Utah.  And Los Angeles, which might be considered its own country in some aspects.

And, of course, a lot of us find a race a little closer to home to whet our holiday running palette.

Andrea Zapalac ran one of the original Montgomery County Triple races in the City of Conroe Turkey Trot 5K on Saturday, November 18 at Carl Barton, Jr. Park, finishing in 37:26.

Later that evening, the Sparks family journeyed west to College Station for Santa’s Wonderland Christmas 5K.

Aubree led the way, a little less impressed with the lights, in 38:57, while Sawyer kept his Mom, Juliee, in check as they teamed up for a 49:57 finish.

Ever get up and just have an itching to run a race?

Sure, many of us do.

A 50K?  Well, that’s how Bonnie Scholz rolls.

Off to Warda, Texas was Bonnie for “hills and heat all morning” on “beautiful trails” at the Wild Hare Trail 50K where she commanded the ladies’ field to a first place overall finish.

None of this Masters only business for Bonnie.

She ran the 31 miles in 5:29:56, running a little longer this race than our Volte friends, the Murillos.

Luis was second overall in the 10K in 46:13, while Gustavo and Juan tackled the 25K.

Gustavo ran the distance in 1:55:02 as Juan took it easy with a time of 2:21:59.

Pull out your globe and spin it – yeah, no Google Maps for Nine Volte - as we go to Montevideo, Uruguay.

That’s where Monica Moreno grabbed an international PR in the San Felipe & Santiago 10K.

“I have to admit that it’s not a dramatic improvement, but I’m proud I did a little better,” she said.

Monica, a PR is a PR – and is worthy of celebration.

She was ninth in her age group in 1:03:30 – 21 seconds better than her previous 10K best at the Blue Bell Fun Run in Brenham four years ago.

From England to Spain went Jen Smith as she competed in the Valencia Marathon on Sunday, November 19.

And whenever you get cerveza in your pre-race bag, it is pretty sure that you’re going to have a good day.

Jen sprained her ankle on October 10 and did a lot of swimming and spinning to maintain her fitness for her “little training run”, as she called it.

She posted a solid time of 3:58:54, achieving a personal goal of “finishing strong”. 

Jen said that there were “percussion lines every 1K and Valencia oranges to finish” and that the “crowds were insane”.

Read more about Jen’s race and experience at:  http://smiths2uk.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/valencia-marathon.html

We’re thankful for all of our athletes and friends – and most of us were running on Thanksgiving weekend.

The first masters finisher at the Pfeatherd Pfun Run 10K in Pflugerville, Texas – near Austin – on Thanksgiving morning was Volte friend Reggie Bruhn.

Reggie, who recently retired, put that time into his training for a 47:49 finish.

The entire Cruise family pinned a bib on at the Live Love Landon (L3) Turkey Day 5K in Kingwood.

Amanda was the first overall woman in 17:48, a new personal best for her, and her husband, Jeff, finished in 27:50.

Their three boys all ran the kids 1K.  Tristan was the family champion for 2017 in 5:55, while Austin and Landon gave chase in 6:12 and 6:14, respectively.

Yaya Herrera leads early on Thanksgiving morning in the Rio Grande Valley Turkey Trot 10K
(Photo courtesy of Rio Grande Valley Turkey Trot 10K)

Yaya Herrera traveled to the Valley to take second in her age group in the Rio Grande Valley Turkey Trot 10K in Mission with a 49:46 effort.

Kanab, Utah played host to explorer Juan Flores at the KTown Turkey Trot 5K.

Juan was first in his age group in 20:48, not letting the 5,000 feet of elevation slow him down too much.

Like Yaya, Marta Mixa ran her way to second in her age group with a 57:29 performance at the Turkey Trot Los Angeles 10K in California.

Sixty Voltes, their family members and friends ran either the 5-mile or 3-mile race at Run Thru The Woods presented by Entergy on Thanksgiving Day in The Woodlands.

Sandra Tezino hustling to be the first female Masters finisher of the 3-mile race in The Woodlands.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

In the three-mile race, Sandra Tezino led us with a first place Masters finish of 21:31 while Kristi and Brayden Park followed in 24;06 and 25:43, respectively, while Tricia and Kim Driver covered the course in 26:09 and 33:19.

Volte friend Alex Murphy stopped the clock in 26:02 while two trios of Volte family members also ran the three-mile race.

Son Cody, daughter Taryn and husband Steve completed the Driver clan’s annual tradition of running one of the two races together.  Cody took the family title with a 22:02 finish.

Taryn was just three seconds behind her sister Tricia in 26:12 while Steve crossed the line in 32:01.

While mom Tammy was running the five-miler, Cassidy Grado made it to the finish line before her sister and father with a three-mile time of 36:11.  Dad Gilbert and sister Taylor arrived shortly in 37:29 and 37:30, respectively.

Six Voltes took home Turkey Day hardware while three of our friends and one family member did so too.

Colton Nettleton was first in his age group in 27:35, followed by Volte Chris Weir in 28:45, who was first in his division, and Volte friend Mike Menster, who was the second Masters in 29:30.

Derek Bailey and Rip Reynolds battled a little with times of 31:02 and 31:21 for third and first place age group efforts, respectively.

Volte friend Adrienne Langelier was first in her age group in 32:42, while Sarah Batton and Greg Nettleton took second in their divisions and Keri Amador and Volte friend Mandi Fowlkes were third in theirs.

Sarah finished in 35:11, while Greg followed in 35:52.  Keri and Mandi won their third place awards with times of 36:09 and 38:32.

Megan Miller making an 8-minute per mile pace look easy at Run Thru The Woods.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

The rest of the five-mile results are as follows:

Volte:  Jerritt Park - 33:20, Gregg Harris - 36:14, Tim Russell - 37:28, Will Ott - 38:50, Landa Wright - 39:48, Tammy Grado - 39:49, Leanne Rosser - 40:19, Jon Braunersreuther - 40:50, Megan Miller - 41:23, Rebecca Holt - 41:53, John Trocko - 41:54, Mike Kuykendall - 43:26, Brian Hanyzewski - 43:29, Laura Hanyzewski - 43:30, Dana Formon - 46:01, Denise Powers - 46:06, Llana Bingham - 47:07, Paul Vita - 47:27, Waverly Walk - 48:07, Rich Cooper - 50:06, Steven Lopez - 51:10, Richard Tong - 52:45, Jeanine Price - 53:55, Cassandra Roschen - 55:24, Lisa Johnson - 58:00, Nilay Dinc - 48:51, Jimmy Baker - 1:02:31, Tabitha Young - 1:06:24

Friends:  Edson Jones - 36:17, Ben Choynacki - 38:49, Kim Choynacki - 38:49, Vincent Attanucci - 40:51, Susan Rouse - 42:05, Susan Marrero - 43:53, Darcy McClinden - 45:42

Family:  Roman Godfrey - 42:17, Mario Vazquez - 50:50, Andie Tong - 52:44

Landa Wright enjoying the spoils of her big tri year where she finished an IM and a half IM.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

On Friday, November 24, the Friends of the Running Community 5K was held at Barbara Bush Elementary with Jerritt Park leading the way in 21:27.  Tim Russell and Rich Cooper finished in 27:21 and 29:47, respectively.

Volte friends Vincent Attanucci and his son, Mike, ran together in 26:25, while Ken Johnson and Jon Walk ran the traditional course in 40:40.

The following day, Saturday, November 25, a number of familiar faces were at the Run The Woodlands 5K to complete the Montgomery County Triple.

Five Voltes and a friend were among the finishers.

I present to you the 2017 Montgomery County Triple finishers.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Jerritt Park was the fastest Volte that finished, with a 22:19 effort.  Marta Mixa made it to the finish line -- in a little friendly competition -- before her coach, Rich Cooper, with a 29:05 showing, while Cooper kept it steady from Friday with a time of 29:43.

Leanne Rosser ran with Volte friend Jon Walk to a 31:29 finish while Jimmy Baker completed the Alden Bridge arc in 36:18.

For running and/or volunteering in all three races on Thanksgiving Day weekend, Park, Baker, Rosser and Cooper as well as volunteer Mary Carter won the coveted Pine Cone Award.

Cooper completed the three races for the 11th time in its 12-year history.

Chris Weir capped off the Thanksgiving Day weekend with a third-place 1:45:02 age group finish at the HMSA Classical 25K, run out of Sam Houston Park in downtown Houston and incorporating just 12 of the Allen Parkway underpasses.

Volte friends Vincent Attanucci and Jon Walk also competed with finishing times of 2:37:09 and 3:01:49, respectively.

Busy First Two Weeks Of November For Volte

November is a time of year where triathletes are wrapping up their seasons and here in Montgomery County and far northern Harris County, we’re in the midst of the build for our area’s two major marathons – the Chevron Houston Marathon and the Fidelity Investments The Woodlands Marathon.

And, as always, we just have athletes who love to pin a bib on and race.

Juan Flores got us started with a first-place age group finish at the Rockets Run 5K on Saturday, November 4 in Houston at the Toyota Center – the result of a 20:08 effort.

He was still happy even though they misspelled his name on the video board announcing his top division accomplishment.

Actually, two of our runners got underway before Juan did at the Disney Wine & Dine 10K at Walt Disney World in Florida.

George Rux won second place in his age group with a 55:07 effort while Clark Lara notched a time of 1:01:28.

If you can't smile at Disney, you're living life wrong.  Right, George?
(Photo courtesy of Walt Disney World)

Clark returned the following morning – Sunday, November 5 – with a 2:13:05 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon and Jeanine Price also crossed the finish line in 2:45:41.

Although, because of Hurricane Harvey, there was one more triathlon on the schedule in December, the traditional end of the local triathlon season took place at the La Torretta del Lago Resort in Conroe on Sunday, November 5 with the Oilman Triathlon

Our own Derek Bailey ran the half marathon run leg of the relay team, “Dolphin, a Badass and Port-O-Can Man”.

Well, Mr. Port-A-Pottie himself covered the 13.1 miles in 1:36:37 to give the team, which included Megan Litterer on the swim (in 34:18) and Marshall Blanks on the bike (in 2:51:53), a 5:04:26 – just 13 seconds ahead of one of our Volte friends, Kate Looney, who was the women’s overall winner.

Our sponsor - Fleet Feet of The Woodlands - fielded their own relay team with manager Corey Lynn leading off with a 1:08:13 in the 1.2-mile swim and staffers James Engle and Mary-Ellen Hay following on the 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run in 3:21:23 and 1:51:35, respectively, for an overall 6:22:47 finish.

Landa Wright put a cap on the year where she finished her first Ironman in April with a 7:18:05 performance.

She went 52:03 in the water, 3:55:15 on the bike and 2:24:33 on the run.

Landa also coached Volte friend Maygen Ritchie, who finished in 7:09:14.

Elsewhere on Sunday morning, November 5, Volte had approximately 20 runners taking part in the next to last race of the 2017 Texas 10 Series – Texas 10 Katy (or one of its two companion races).

Amanda Cruise led us all with a new 10-mile PR of 1:02:46, which netted her the overall win.

Amanda Cruise breaks the tape at Texas 10 Katy
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Volte friend Michael Menster was next across the line in 1:04:12 – good for a men’s masters victory.

Kimberly Simmons was the first of three Volte age group winners.  She was first in her age group in 1:18:52.

Jerritt Park followed with a third-place division finish of 1:19:37 while Keri Amador won hers in 1:23:13.

Keri Amador digging deep to win her age group at Texas 10 Katy.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

We were rounded out in the 10-mile race by Tammy Grado (1:29:19), Laura Hanyzewski (1:34:28), Layton Gill (1:36:00), Mack Miller (1:38:00), Mike Kuykendall (1:38:34), Brian Hanyzewski (1:43:35), Lisa Johnson (2:07:08) and Alfredo Gonzalez (2:20:23).

Volte friend Ken Johnson stopped the clock in 2:27:55.

Our entire Texas 10 Katy team.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Denise Powers took home hardware in the five-miler on the strength of a 44:43 performance, good for third. 

Rich Cooper covered in 51:20 while Katie Gill and Amanda Becker worked together for times of 57:58.

Brayden and Riley Park both competed in the Lil Tex Kids’ 1-mile race.

Closing out the weekend at The Woodlands Running Club Sunday Night 5K – a three-miler from a course change to accommodate the club’s Juniors program, Jerritt Park and Gabby Westbrook recorded times of 18:43 and 21:30, respectively.

The second weekend of the month was all marathons and halves.

And everybody competed on Sunday, November 12.

On the other side of the globe, Conroe High School assistant principal Randy Harris made Volte proud with a 4:20:41 finish in the 35th Athens Marathon – Authentic in Athens, Greece.

Peace from America says Randy Harris as he finishes in a legendary arena.
(Photo courtesy of 35th Athens Marathon)

Randy was one of two runners – one male and one female – who was chosen out of all of Chevron Houston Marathon’s four-hour finishers from 2017 to receive a free trip to and entry in the race.

Brian Schultz kept his Rock ‘N Roll love going strong by running the Geico Rock ‘N Roll Las Vegas Marathon in 3:57:37.

Closer to home, Sandra Tezino was the third overall woman – and second in her age group - in the South Padre Island Half Marathon by posting a 1:51:23 effort.

Volte friend Mimi Torrez was third in her age group with a 2:04:32 showing.

A baker’s dozen of Volte athletes, but no Jimmy Baker, ran the Cypress Half Marathon.

Blasting out of his port-a-can, Derek Bailey paced us all with a 1:27:46 finish.

Third place in her age group belonged to Laura Godfrey, who registered a 1:39:16 effort.

Laura Godfrey, Bonnie Scholz, Laura Hanyzewski and Jill Tresaugue at Cypress Half Marathon
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Bonnie Scholz followed in 1:41:06 while Jill Treasaugue, Laura Hanyzewski and Layton Gill all came in udner two hours. 

Tresaugue finished in 1:51:30 while Hanyzewski and Gill crossed in 1:56:03 and 1:59:00, respectively.

Wrapping up Volte’s efforts were Robert Dempsey (2:03:07), Julie Pearce (2:13:21), Brian Hanyzewski (2:09:23), Tammy Ninke (2:21:11), Nicole Mikelonis (2:29:56) and Katie Gill (2:48:08).

Julie Pearce running strong at the Cypress Half Marathon
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

It was good to have both Julie Pearce and Nicole Mikelonis back in Volte’s midst again.

Volte friends Mandi Fowlkes, Griselda Borrero and Rebecca Priesmeyer also competed. 

Mandi led the trio in 1:46:08, while Borrero and Priesmeyer posted times of 1:48:52 and 2:35:10, respectively.

Volte Outruns Ghosts And Goblins

Some firsts and PR’s dotted the pre-Halloween landscape in Volte, Texas – one of the first weekends of the year that we didn’t have somebody racing in another state.

Richard Tong got the fun started on Wednesday, October 25 in Cypress at the Skeleton Scamper 5K where he was second overall in 21:49.

Richard ran fast at the Huntsville Half Marathon ... because it was cold!
(Photo courtesy of George Roffe)

But, that wasn’t enough for Richard.

He joined eight other Voltes at the 39th annual Huntsville Half Marathon, Quarter Marathon and 5K, which this year was held at the Walker County Fairgrounds on the west side of Interstate 45.

Richard and Todd Hunter were the first two back to Fairgrounds in the half marathon – in 1:37;51 and 1:43:09, respectively - and they both not only won their age group, but also posted new personal bests on a crisp October 28th morning.

Jerritt Park followed in 1:45:49 while Tim Russell stopped the clock in 1:51:56 with a second place age group finish and Rapha Machado chimed in at 1:53:27.

Waverly Walk pulled National Anthem duties again and won her age group with a 2:16:36 effort.

In the quarter marathon (6.55 miles), Layton Gill leveraged his post-Twin Cities Marathon fitness for a second place age group finish time of 55:40 while Trudy Regnier won hers in 1:05:24.

Braydon Park won his age group in the 5K in 29:07.

Volte friend Ken Johnson of the Seven Hills Running Club completed another half marathon on the road to his 101 career half marathon finishers with a 3:04:14 showing.

He crossed the finish line with his wife, Marilyn, as they were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.

Leanne Rosser and Marta Mixa made their way into Houston the same morning for the Monster Mash 10K that is held annually from Karbach Brewing Company and produced by RA Sports Management.

Both ladies recorded podium finishes.

Leanne set a new personal best at the 6.2-mile distance in 50:42, good for second in her age group, while Marta won her division in 57:34.

Friends 7, Volte 6 at the Houston Half Marathon the next day, Sunday, October 29, but nobody, of course, lost with great efforts in even better weather to race in.

Megan Miller completed her first half marathon in 1:58:07.

Chris Weir was the first across the line for Volte in 1:19:35, while Juan Flores and Gregg Harris rounded out are guys with times of 1:31:05 and 1:41:13, respectively.

Gregg Harris almost into the finish at the Houston Half Marathon.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Judith Albarran and Monica Moreno finished in 2:01:02 and 2:22:04, respectively.

Judith is the epitome of "You can't have a bad race if you're smiling".
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Volte friends included the following:  Shelby Williams - 1:30:46, Edson Jones - 1:44:21, Kim Hamilton - 1:50:44, Vincent Attanucci - 1:59:10, Alvaro Trejo - 1:59:26, Hector Lopez - 2:22:01, Lusi Trejo - 2:33:43

Mike Kuykendall rocked the 10K in 1:01:05 while Volte friend Mario Vazquez gave chase and followed in 1:06:03.

The final first of the weekend came on Sunday, October 29 as Amanda Becker completed her first triathlon at Katy Triathlon at Firethorne.

She covered the 300-meter swim (10:04), 15-mile bike (1:07:35) and 3-mile run (35:05) course in 2:02:44.

Volte Busy In Mid-October

Give a Volte two weeks and see what they can do.

There was no rest for the busy a couple of weeks removed from the Tunnel Light Marathon in late September.

The Memorial Hermann Ten For Texas was the next major race for us on Saturday, October 14.

Including Letty Gonzalez’s 5K effort, 30 of us crossed a finish line on Market Street.

Three went home with hardware – Rip Reynolds won his division in 1:07:40, Marta Mixa – paced by Leanne Rosser – took second in hers in 1:37:58 and Chris Weir, our fastest Volte of the morning, was third in a competitive men’s age group in 1:02:07.

Our Tunnel Light marathoners jumped back into the fray with Juan Flores leading the way with a 1:13:41 showing followed by Sandra Tezino (1:20:54), Yaya Herrera (1:22:50), Gabby Westbrook (1:22:51) and Lauren Hoffart (1:34:54).

Gabby Westbrook charging fast to the Ten For Texas finish line.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Meridith Moss was our fourth fastest Volte of the morning with a time of 1:15:57.

Landa Wright and Jill Tresaugue were under 1:30 with performances of 1:20:52 and 1:28:15, respectively.

Denise Powers (1:31:39), Kristi Park (1:37:01), Tiffanie Haider (1:38:27) and Dana Forman (1:39:31), who was getting ready for Marathon 2 Marathon, all finished in under 10 minutes per mile.

Rounding out our 10-milers were Tricia Driver - 1:43:52, Wil Cole - 1:43:56, Megan Eastin - 1:44:33, Waverly Walk - 1:47:19, Rob Myers - 1:50:55, Debra Myers - 1:50:58, Monica Moreno - 1:54:08, Nilay Dinc - 1:55:12, Michael Newsome - 2:04:16, Jeanine Price - 2:04:57, Kim Driver - 2:13:13, Lisa Johnson -  2:15:56 and Alfredo Gonzalez - 2:20:37.

Rob and Debra Myers and Llana Bingham early in the race at Ten For Texas
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

It was Nilay Dinc’s first running race ever, but her other competitive race was another event produced by The Woodlands Township – CB&I Triathlon, and Waverly Walk, answered her Dad’s call, and stepped up and “did an outstanding job with the National Anthem.”

We’re often asked, “What’s a Volte friend?”

It is someone who trains with us occasionally, is family of a member, is a good friend of a member, or has been a part of the running community with the same core values.

And we had a lot of Volte friends also at Ten For Texas.

They included:  Ronnie Delzer - 1:01:35, Mike Menster - 1:02:40, Sarah Tyler - 1:19:34, Tim Griepp - 1:10:22, James Reed - 1:10:38, Brandi Herrera - 1:20:12, Mandi Fowlkes - 1:21:55, Edson Jones - 1:23:26, Reggie Bruhn - 1:27:10, Vince Attanucci - 1:30:44, Susan Rouse - 1:31:34, Maygen Ritchie - 1:35:47, Hector Lopez - 1:49:43, Sabina Lorca - 1:56:40 (pacing her husband), Barry Blanton - 1:59:59 and Mario Vazquez - 2:03:01.

The following day, Sunday, October 15, we spanned the United States.

Randy Smith finished the Northshore Half Marathon in Mandeville, Louisiana – the site of Bill Dwyer’s last half marathon finish – in 2:04:02.  Great to have Randy back in the results again.

Brian Schultz checked off another Rock ‘N Roll race with a half marathon finish in St. Louis, Missouri that found him posting a time of 1:51:02.

And a very good friend of Volte, who’s coached by Penn State graduate and professional triathlete Liz Baugher, John Trocko completed Ironman Louisville in less than a minute over 12 hours.

He finished the 2.4-mile swim in 1:04:43, the 112-mile bike half full of rolling hills in 6:08:50 and the marathon in 4:32:33. 

Throw in a pair of seven-minute transitions and Trocko called it a day in 12:00:58.

The following weekend – Saturday, October 21 and Sunday, October 22 – was a bit quieter for Volte and friends.

But, of course, it isn’t a race weekend unless Juan Flores or Jerritt Park has a bib on, right?

Juan ran with seven other runners on Team “Getafterit” in the Ragnar Trail Relay Hill Country Texas that spanned Friday and Saturday, October 20-21 at Flat Rock Ranch, located just outside of San Antonio.

Each runner ran three trails that totaled 15.5 miles – or 124 for the team.

The Flores-led team finished in 25 hours, seven minutes and one second, good for sixth in their division.

Closer to home, we had eight runners compete in the Love Fosters Hope race – five in the 10K and a trio in the 5K.

Four of the five placed in their age group.

Derek Bailey was first across the line in 41:47, good for second place.

Kristi Park was second in hers in 53:15 and nine seconds behind – off the podium in her age group – was Leanne Rosser.

Marta Mixa and Lauren Hoffart finished second and first, respectively, in their divisions in 1:00:01 and 1:01:42.

Laura Godfrey was second in her age group in the 5K in 23:28, while Faith Craig and Alfredo Gonzalez covered the 3.1 miles in 31:05 and 36:12, respectively.

Crossing the Galveston Causeway Bridge over to Tiki Island and back was Monica Moreno, who finished the Toughest 10K Galveston in 1:08:29.

Volte friend Erika Park was second in her age group in 45:10 while Alvaro and Lusi Trejo stopped the clocks in 53:37 and 1:08:32, respectively.

In west Texas, Dana Formon completed Marathon 2 Marathon by running into the city of Marathon, Texas in 5:09:21.

While we all know that Texas is pretty great, George Rux actually got to compete in one of the great triathlons of all time.

In its 27th year, the Great Floridian is Florida’s original 140.6 triathlon and the second oldest iron-distance race in the continental United States.

That’s a fancy way of saying, “We were here before Ironman Florida” and “yeah, only the Ironman World Championship” has been around longer.

It didn’t always used to be that way, but George was able to take part in the race’s GFT 1/3 triathlon, which allowed athletes to swim .8 miles, bike 37 miles and run another 8.7 miles.

George finished in 4:35:13, second in his age group, and has a good sense of humor about his placement.

“Results can get a bit goofy in the “Medicare Eligible” age groups. There aren’t that many old folks who are healthy enough to try these events,” he says.  “Initially, there were only five men registered for the 65-69 age group and three didn’t show up for the start.

“So there was only a 65 year old from Canada and me in the age group competition. If I hadn’t dropped my chain, I think my bike split would have matched his.

“However, he ran about 20 sec/mile faster so there is no way I can rationalize the race might have gone differently.  Still, I was the oldest competitor in the field by four years and I am quite pleased with my overall placing against all the age groups.”

George, we’re pleased too.

He covered the swim in 28:06, the bike course in 2:23:05 and the run course in 1:34:38.

“The swim went exceptionally well, as there was little wind,” he said.  “Even with a mass start of all men, there were only about 80 male entrants so there was minimal body contact. 

“I finished two minutes ahead of plan with a sub 2 min/100 yard pace, which is good for me.”

No, Larry Batton didn't get an invite to the West Wing, but he did run into one of President Trump's team Kellyanne Conway the day before at the Marine Corps Marathon Expo.
(Photo courtesy of Will Cole)

We close the two-week window of mid-October with our athletes that did battle with the Marine Corps Marathon course on Sunday, October 22 in Arlington, Virginia and Washington, DC.

Rob Myers, Will Cole and Larry Batton all smiles after finishing the Marine Corps Marathon
(Photo courtesy of Debra Myers)

Larry Batton led the way with a 3:52:13.  Will Cole followed in 4:17:08.

Rob Myers ran the marathon in 4:53:39, while his wife, Debra, ran the 10K in 1:11:37.

Paul Vita literally gutted out his marathon with an upset stomach that delayed his arrival to the Marine Corps Memorial in 6:52:21.

Volte friend Susan Marrero got in under the five-hour mark in 4:59:19 while her husband, Rafael, ran the 10K in 1:16:06. 

Seven miles from the finish, coming across the bridge into Crystal City, Susan was slowed down as she was hit by a bike that was on the course.

Volte: Where Are We Running (Next)?

1/ 1 – Metal Sawing Technology Texas Marathon, Kingwood, TX
Dana Formon

Tunnel Light Shines The Way To Boston

"We all have time machines.  Some take us back, they're called memories.  Some take us forward, they're called dreams." ~ Jeremy Irons

We runners peddle both -- often in the same moment.

That is, the moment we cross a finish line.

Because the distance we've run, regardless of our time, leaves a memory - albeit some more fond than others, but we all still chase a dream of some sort.

Our Tunnel Light marathoners on Sunday, September 17 were without exception.

The dreams of running the Boston Marathon became more real for four of our runners - Todd Hunter, Yaya Herrera, Bonnie Scholz and Tammy Grado - as they met their gender and age group's qualifying standard for the very first time.

Little did Tammy Grado know at the time that one second of celebrating would have cost her a trip to Boston
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Six others traveled to Washington state with their BQ secure - and three of them - Derek Bailey, Juan Flores and Sandra Tezino - replicated their performance.

Derek Bailey was the first Volte to make his way across the finish line.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

And an eighth - Michelle McGill - recorded her 13th BQ from her last 17 marathons.

But, in the chasing of our dreams, we sometimes fail to remember that they don't always come true the first time.

Or the second time.

Or the third time.

In fact, Michelle McGill will tell you that she ran 14 marathons over five years before she recorded her first Boston Qualifier.

Officially, it was a marathon debut for Monse Louimeus, who finished in 4:23:35 -- an improvement on her 25.4-mile jaunt through The Woodlands in March in 4:29:19.

The best of the personal bests -- seven within the group - belonged to Judith Albarran, who shed 33 minutes and 39 seconds -- and maybe a few tears too - off her 5:07:32 debut marathon in Houston three years ago.

Yet we had surprises – and none of them had anything to do with a race result.

Unfortunately, a slew of work projects kept Rapha Machado from being able to join us.

Then, Carrie Hyde, who had trained as well as ever - all the way through the training cycle, heard from her appendix, which had had more than enough.

We’re all grateful that it immediately demanded an audience with the finest clinicians in Montgomery County just 36 hours before she would have join the larger group on the plane to Seattle Friday morning.

Oh, we weren’t done. 

Of course, the only direction to go was up.

With a little help from a pilot not to be named, Jared Hoffart pulled a “Jon Walk special” – as Volte head coach and founder Bill Dwyer tipped your scribe off in his e-mail – and flew to Seattle, arriving at 2 a.m. Saturday morning and surprising his wife Lauren.

And to help everyone soak the entire 26.2-mile experience in, Debra Myers and her husband Rob and her company Enfusia supplied all of our Tunnel Light marathoners with a care package of “Muscle Soak” products.

There were 20 of us (participants, that is) – and we had a few other local runners make the trip.

One of them, the current USA Track & Field 100-mile trail champion, Ronnie Delzer, of The Woodlands, won the race in 2:34:11.  His time was the fastest ever at Tunnel Light and the third fastest of the three Tunnel Marathon races since they started in 2008.

The majority of our Tunnel Light marathoners post-race!
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

The results from all 23 runners from our area are listed below:

4:33:53 - Judith Albarran, 37 (PR by 33 min., 39 secs.)
3:04:40 - Derek Bailey, 36 (BQ)
3:53:40 - Jon Braunersreuther, 54
4:36:33 - Kristi Chen, 50
4:04:39 - Erica Coleman, 52
3:52:45 - Mike Coleman, 52
2:34:11 - *Ronnie Delzer, 36, Vantage Point Endurance (BQ, PR)
3:17:19 - Juan Flores, 44 (BQ, PR by 5 min., 38 secs.)

One of the Volte "Bad Hombres", Juan Flores, BQ'd and PR'd again at Tunnel Light.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

3:50:52 - Laura Godfrey, 42
3:51:37 - Tammy Grado, 49 (BQ, PR by 13 min., 3 secs.)
5:40:19 - Falon Gunter, 34
3:34:21 - *Yaya Herrera, 42 (BQ, PR by 24 min., 46 secs.)

Yaya Herrera looks so happy that she'll be heading to Boston; so much so, it looks like she ready to leap and fly!
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

4:23:43 - Lauren Hoffart, 28
3:25:20 - Todd Hunter, 49 (BQ, PR by 17 min., 23 secs.)

Todd Hunter's smile is as ecstatic - and electric - as they come.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

3:21:15 - Alan Jones, 46, Finish Strong Coaching (BQ, PR)
4:23:35 - Monserrat Louimeus, 29 (PR - first official 26.2; TW was short)
3:55:29 - Michelle McGill, 50 (BQ)
3:08:21 - Mario Menendez, 42, Finish Strong Coaching (BQ, PR)
4:36:32 - Marta Mixa, 60
4:39:22 - Leanne Rosser, 48
3:39:38 - *Bonnie Scholz, 40 (BQ, PR by 31 min., 41 secs.)
3:41:04 - Sandra Tezino, 49 (BQ)
4:23:36 - Gabby Westbrook, 33

(Note:  The asterisks you see above represent the runners who actually ran a Boston qualifying time at the Fidelity Investments The Woodlands Marathon in March, if Boston would have accepted adjusted times.)

Volte head coach and founder Bill Dwyer said one of the many highlights of the weekend was being at the finish line for eight Boston Qualifiers.

“Everyone worked hard and it paid off,” he said.  “I was so very happy for everyone.”

More than a week or so after all had returned home and all of the group’s qualifiers were able to register for next year’s Boston Marathon, Dwyer shared about the hug (that wasn’t) that might have wrecked that trip for one runner.

“Tammy Grado sent me a note saying that she almost stopped to give me a hug just before the finish,” he said.

After the race, she had posted on her Facebook page, “4X a charm!! Sept 17, I Boston Qualified!!! Thank you Lord for giving me the ability and strength to run.”

And what she couldn’t have known then (and didn’t post) …. “and to not share my enthusiasm with Bill until AFTER the race.”

Tammy qualified three minutes and 23 seconds underneath her age group’s qualifying standard.

The cutoff?  3:23.

“Talk about living a charmed life,” Bill commented.  “She’s in!”

All of Volte’s athletes enjoyed the scenery, weather and the camaraderie.

“I loved my trip to Tunnel Light because I got to spend time getting to know my fellow Voltes,” said the youngest of our group, Lauren Hoffart.  “The race itself was tough but beautiful.  The course really made me feel like God was right there with me.”

The focus on all that we have to be thankful to God for was shared Saturday night before the race.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Perhaps that was a byproduct of the Saturday night devotional led by Jon Braunersreuther, who serves as a mission and ministry facilitator for the Lutheran Church in the greater Houston area.

Pastor Jon led our team's devotional at our Saturday evening pasta party.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

“I appreciate Leanne Rosser helping organize the Airbnb for half of the team and the pasta party,” said Dwyer.  “As well as Mary Carter helping me throughout the weekend and the amazing support provided by Alan Gastineau getting from point to point on the course.”

Dwyer said it wasn't easy.

Alan had made the trip a year ago when Sandra Tezino and Laura Godfrey qualified for this year’s Boston Marathon – and the team put the inside knowledge to use.

Sandra Tezino (right) getting her symbolic Boston ticket handed to her by Scott Sobelesky (who helped her qualify as a pacer a year ago).
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

It wasn’t just all happening in Washington state the third weekend of September.

Volte and friends had runners in Germany, Kemah and North Dakota.

Dirk and Criss Neumann completed the Baden Half Marathon together in 2:09:16 in their hometown of Karlsruhe, Germany on Saturday, September 16.

From Germany, with love!
(Photo courtesy of the Neumanns)

Monica Moreno finished a hot Toughest 10K Kemah the next day in 1:16:44, while a quintet of our friends also finished.  Erika Park led the group in a first place age group (40-44) time of 46:24.

Alvaro Trejo also kept it under an hour in 57:42 while his wife, Lusi, completed the four passes of the Kemah-Seabrook Bridge in 1:13:42.

Hector Lopez and Mario Vazquez also rounded out the group with finishing times of 1:14:06 and 1:16:43, respectively.

Volte friend Jon Walk completed his 54th career marathon, including one in his 34th state, as he finished the Bismarck (North Dakota) Marathon in 5:28:03.

He went 3:35:02 through the first 19 miles – a pace of 11:19 in mid-40 degrees temperatures, but walked the last 10K in hopes of trying to save a little to run the Virginia 10-Miler the following Saturday in Lynchburg, Virginia with his daughter, Waverly.

Sunshine Csikos Gets Hometown 5K Win

Charity starts at home or better yet, in your hometown.

"I was in Waco visiting family and found out about a race to benefit the scholarship fund at my alma mater, La Vega High School," said Mike Csikos.  "I thought it would be fun to support my school and run through my old stomping grounds in Bellmead."

Like any number of us would do, Sunshine found himself on the start line Saturday, October 7 for the La Vega High School Foundation 5K.

"I learned that the La Vega Pirate Foundation gives out over $40,000 annually in scholarships and educational support for deserving students," he added.

Given that the school's cross country athletes were a week away from their district meet, Mike realized that "you just never know what type of field is going to show-up for these smaller events."

He said that it's been a long time since he's run a 5K and had no expectations on his performance other than to give a good steady effort.

And he did so -- better than everyone else.

"I was able to lead the pack," Mike said.  "It was so cool to have a police escort which made me feel like an "elite" runner for 3.1 miles.  I ran a 22:19, finished in first and loved every minute of it."

Even better for Mike was that he had the opportunity to visit with some of his teachers and former classmates, which he said was nice.

"It was a good morning of why I love to run," he added.

In keeping with the charitable theme, we follow Greg Nettleton to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and his debut effort at the 26.2-mile distance.

"The Chicago Marathon was harder than I expected," he said. "But I ran and finished for Diana Nettleton raising over $4,000 to help Finish MS."

Some of our Volte friends made the trip to the Windy City too.

Mary-Ellen Wilderman-Hay finished her third marathon of 2017 with a personal best of 3:39:40 -- and her second BQ of the year.

One of our endurance community's true gentlemen, Ironman John Laskowski of Team Strive, Outrival Racing and now Mach 5 Racing, notched a marathon personal best as well with a showing of 3:59:10.

Rebecca Hughes finished in 4:10:12 while Ernest "Bartenderx" Oropeza stopped the clock in 4:43:19.

A couple of our athletes were at other marathons than Chicago on Sunday, October 8 and added to their marathon counts in different states.

Steven Lopez picked up state #16 by finishing the Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 5:57:19.

"Pennsylvania is in the books!" said Steven.  "Very humid.  Just jogged this one and enjoyed the fall colors."

A little further to the northeast found Derek Bailey punching out state #20 in Rhode Island.

In Portsmouth was the Amica Newport Marathon where Derek finished in 3:27:47.

"Trash fire.  Don't go to a trash fire," was his only comment.

Some of us, though, would set a landfill ablaze for a time like that!

In all seriousness, we've all had that race - or two - were it just wasn't our day, but we add it to our toolbox of experiences to draw on at some other time.

And there are other times that we know it maybe isn't the wisest thing to race, while on the back end of an illness (your scribe speaking from experience).

However, there are reasons it's important to take a measured risk and compete.

That's so we not let teammates down.

If anybody in the last six weeks had the right to take a pass, it would be Amanda Cruise.

But Amanda had a pair of teammates that had been preparing for quite some time for last Sunday's Kemah Olympic Distance Triathlon Relay.

Still looking tough despite taking it easy is Amanda Cruise.
(Photo courtesy of Bayou City Race Series)

She figured she could take it easy on her run relay portion and still contribute.

And Amanda helped deliver a first place relay team victory.

Cruise-Zajac-Brokish covered the 1,500-meter swim (38:04), 40-kilometer bike (1:09:52) and 10-kilometer run in 2:31:20 with Amanda making her leg happen in 39:14.

Then nearly 20 Voltes and a handful of our friends made the trek out west for the second annual Texas 10 Cypress.

Brayden Park was the first of our runners across the line in 29:45 in the 5K.

If that time seems a little long, it is -- as runners missed a turn and ended up with a bit of bonus mileage going more than 3.1 miles.

Letty Gonzalez completed the unkown distance in 40:38, taking second place in her age group to go with Brayden's first place performance.

Gregg Harris crossed the five-mile finish line first with a 37:49 first place age group showing.

Brian Hanyzewski did so in 47:50 while Gabby Brockett, Tammy Ninke (:44) and Tabitha Young (:46) all finished within a second or two of each other in 1:07:43.

Tabitha picked up $50 in the post-race cash drawings while our friends from Huntsville Ray and Diana Sarno both completed the five-mile race in 1:05:16.

A pair of first-place age group and third-place age group finishes were won in the marquee 10-mile race.

Ninth overall, Rip Reynolds was fast at the front in 1:09:55 for one of the two first place efforts while Kimberly Simmons - seventh among all females -- secured the other one in 1:18:50.

Jerritt Park and Keri Amador were the third place winners in 1:17:06 and 1:22:40, respectively.

Focused and determined was Keri Amador, which netted her a third place age group placement.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Randy Harris notched a nice time of 1:13:49 in a tough age group.

Laura Hanyzewski kept things steady with a 1:34:05 finish while Katie Gill bettered her previous 10-mile best by a minute and five seconds with a 1:52:50 showing -- beating last year's mark that she had at Memorial Hermann Ten For Texas.

Desna McDonald and Lisa Johnson smiled all of the way to finishes of 2:01:42 and 2:03:11 while Alfredo Gonzalez stoicly ran the distance in 2:20:50.

Volte friend Michael Menster was first in his age group in 1:07:45, while Mary Garcia and Ken Johnson ran in 1:28:41 and 2:23:13, respectively.

Cole Harris and Brayden Park closed the morning by going 1-2 in the Lil' Texas Kids 1-mile race with an estimated finishing time of about 7 minutes even.  The two were five seconds apart as Brayden followed Cole across the finish line.

IM 70.3 Augusta Peachy Keen For Mike Kuykendall

Writing the Volte recaps is a lot like race announcing:  You’re thrown a diverse set of data (or people running towards you at the finish line) and the challenge is to make it as good or better than the effort that everybody exerted.

Always a fun challenge to accept, though.  It’s why we’re here, right?

Augusta, Georgia is home of the Masters golf tournament. 

For you non-golfers or sportsmen even, it is the most prestigious golf tournament in the world. 

The winners are given a green jacket to wear after they win.

They get to choose the meal for all of the participants at the next year’s Tournament.

You want fried chicken?  You got it.

Pretty heady stuff, huh?

Of course, for most triathletes, the holy grail of the sport is the Ironman World Championships in Kailea-Kona, Hawaii.

For our Mike Kuykendall, he’ll be the first to tell you that – for the time being – IM 70.3 Augusta was his Kona.

Yes, Mike, you gunned out the IM 70.3 August course.  Congratulations!

(Photo courtesy of Mike Kuykendall)

He approached his most arduous race with the same type of preparation, skill development, training and pre-event race selection that many of triathlon’s professionals do.

We’ve certainly been impressed with our front row seat to Mike’s journey.

While Augusta sits just 135 feet above sea-level, Wikipedia states that Augusts has a “humid subtropical climate”.

Mike said that he would be the first one to attest to that.

Having done a half marathon in Augusta to check off Georgia myself, I can attest that Augusta is laid out – elevation-wise – a lot like Huntsville State Park:  the elevation change is fairly constant.

It is why Mike faced 1,700 feet of elevation gain on the bike.

However, for somebody that was told that many years ago that he wouldn’t be able to physically accomplish all that he has today, his description of the day was even more worthwhile.

“What an awesome Ironman experience,” he said.  “Trusted my training and beat my anticipated time en route to a personal best on the swim and the bike legs.

“Too hot and humid (91 degrees) for me to do much speed on the run.”

He covered the 1.2-mile swim in the Savannah River in 37:55 and knocked off the 56-mile bike portion in 3:15:20.

Mike’s half marathon time was 2:36:35.

“The three mantras of the day became ‘Work on the mile you’re in’, ‘Be in the moment’ and Philippians 4:13,” said Mike.

The day before, Saturday, September 23, our runners faced hills and turns.

Waverly Walk drew the hills card at the 44th annual Virginia 10-Miler in Lynchburg, Virginia, where she studied Elementary Education at Liberty University.

Waverly Walk finishing her fourth straight Virginia 10-Miler.

(Free courtesy race photos from triduo.com)

It was her fourth time to run the race, but the first time she traveled to it – and not as rested as she had been previously.

Despite a quick start down Farm Basket Hill, a result of getting positioned in front of (instead of behind in previous years) a string of 10 runners that were running the 4-miler abreast carrying the flags of the different branches of military, she would be the first to admit that it also wasn’t her day.

She still finished in 1:50-even, better than in her sophomore and junior years but about two minutes off last year’s time as a senior.

The turns, featured in the Woodforest Charity Run 10K in Conroe, were managed well by Rip Reynolds.

He captured his age group in 40:42, while Volte friend Vincent Attanucci was second in his in 52:45.

The next morning started in Blackfield, Hampshire, England where the Smith family – Jen and the kids – participated in the Solent Half Marathon and a companion 800-meter dash.

This may be a candidate for Volte Race Photo of the Year as Hope Smith brings her Mom in from a tough half.

(Photo courtesy of Jen Smith)

“Good news and bad news,” Jen said.  “Respectable finish in 1:43:11.  Bad news was that I got nauseous at mile 4 and walked/ran the last nine.”

She reported that Grayson was first in the 800, Hope was fourth and Michaela was sixth.

On this side of the pond, Penny Garza made the trip to the Run Houston Race Series event at the University of Houston and finished the 5K in 42:11.

The bulk of Volte was at Texas 10 Series Huntsville.

Twelve ran the marquee 10-mile race, three ran the five-mile and Brayden Park doubled up running the 5K and the one-mile race.

All alone - even with an untied shoe - is Brayden Park.

(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

After posting a second in his age group time of 25:09 in the 5K, Brayden put the burners on for a first place, 6:20 personal best in the mile race.

Our five milers ran fairly close together.

Katie Gill completed the course in 54:41 while Naika Vargas and her niece, Maria Rivera, who was visiting from Venezuela, both finished in 57:07. 

Naika Vargas running with her niece, Maria Rivera.

(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Maria took home a second-place age group award for her efforts.

Kimberly Simmons was our only first place age group winner with a 1:20:10 time.

A group of four took second in their divisions – Rip Reynolds in 1:10:38, Keri Amador in 1:25:18, Dana Formon in 1:30:41 and George Rux in 1:32:00.

“I was very pleased,” said George.  “The race plan went well.  I had a negative split and finished strong.”

Only 26 of the 181 finishers ran a negative split – and 15 of them ended up on the podium.

George’s negative split was 59 seconds while Kimberly was the only other Volte to do so with an eight-second improvement on the back half of the course.

Jerritt Park finished in 1:23:55 while Layton Gill got ready for the Medtronics Twin Cities Marathon with a time of 1:30:10.

Denise Powers led the rest of Volte’s women with a time of 1:34:16 with Laura Hanyzewski in chase, finishing in 1:36:12.

Desna McDonald raced Lisa Johnson to the finish and got the better end – this time.  Desna stopped the clock in 2:03:38, while Lisa had Desna in sight in 2:04:06.

"Too much fun; no such thing!" is the motto of Desna and Lisa as they finish Texas 10 Series Huntsville

(Photo by Bill Dwyer)

Mr. Steady, Alfredo Gonzalez, took on the hills in 2:29:15.

Alfredo put 23 seconds on one of our friends, Ken Johnson from Huntsville, who finished in 2:29:38, while Mike Menster was the first overall men’s master finisher in 1:05:30.