Volte Ran Large At The Woodlands Half Marathon

Hit .297 in the major leagues and you'll make $10 million a year.

Guide 11 runners to personal bests out of 37 that toed the line at The Woodlands Half Marathon on Saturday, March 4 and you start creating believers - in the process.

Chris Weir, Rip Reynolds and Skip Moschell all drew elite bibs this year, courtesy of Elite Athlete Coordinator Chris Strait.

Weir led Volte with a 1:20:48, his fastest of three The Woodlands Half Marathon finishes.

In addition to grabbing third in his age group, Rip Reynolds, with his 1:28:43, became one of 48 runners who have run The Woodlands Half Marathon all six years.

Incredibly consistent, Rip's times have ranged between 1:28:09 in 2013 and 1:30:28 the following year.

Skip finished his fifth The Woodlands Half Marathon in 1:31:52.

Chris Weir led us all at Volte in The Woodlands Half Marathon
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

"Chris runs with us, but is not coached by Volte," said its founder Bill Dwyer.  "He's a very talented super nice guy (as is Skip, and Rip).  He's become a great ambassador for our group.

"One of the things that makes Volte a little different is that it doesn't matter if you are a 6-min miler or 16-min miler. You're still a runner and you're still covering the distance for a personal goal.," Dwyer added.  "We all support each other no matter what the pace is. The finish times are personal and when a goal is achieved, everyone celebrates the effort. Chris, who is one of the fastest in the group, embodies this value."

Curtis Hooper and Jerritt Park slipped in under 1:40 with times of 1:35:14 and 1:37:12, respectively.  Park was running in his third The Woodlands Half Marathon.

The other two?  1:37:35 in 2015 and 1:37:24 last year.

"People ask why I always sprint at the finish line," said the 39-year-old Park.  "Today I had a PR in the half marathon with a time of 1:37:12, compared to my old PR of 1:37:25.  That's why I sprint!"

Rapha Machado and Jon Braunersreuther made their debut appearances in The Woodlands Half Marathon with finishes of 1:45:26 and 1:45:53, respectively, while Sandra Tezino finished her fourth by stopping the clock in 1:45:32.

Ten runners finished between 1:50 and 2:00.

They included:  Will Ott - 1:50:13 (3rd), Leanne Rosser - 1:50:41 (2nd), Gabby Westbrook - 1:50:55 (1st), Sally Buckelew - 1:55:32 (2nd), Tim Russell - 1:56:18 (3rd), Tammy Grado - 1:56:54 (2nd), Jill Tresaugue - 1:57:17 (6th), Denise Powers - 1:58:40 (4th and best by almost six minutes at TWHM), Laura Hanyzewski - 1:59:11 (3rd) and Brian Hanyzewski - 1:59:21 (3rd).

Dwyer remarked that one of the 11 PR's on Saturday came from Brian Hanyzewski.

Runners behind Brian Hanyzewski are checking their watches,
but he led the way to a sub 2-hour finish.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

"It's fun watching Brian, who married into our group! The gap between him and his wife Laura is getting smaller," he said.  "With a tenth of a mile to go Laura passes me entering the finish chute and yells, "Brian is right behind me!  He's doing great!"  Love this couple."

Another nine were between two hours and 2:10.

Naika Vargas - 2:00:02 (3rd), Rob Myers - 2:00:56 (3rd), Judith Albarran - 2:01:04 (1st), Dana Formon - 2:02:59 (1st), Marta Mixa - 2:05:57 (4th and second best), George Rux - 2:06:08 (2nd), Susan Marrero - 2:06:09 (4th) and Mike Kuykendall - 2:07:16 (3rd) all were in this group.

Kristi Chen ran her first The Woodlands Half Marathon in 2:11:10.

Michelle McGill paced her daughter, Amanda Williams, who is 26 weeks pregnant.  They both finished in 2:14:06.  It was Amanda's third The Woodlands Half Marathon finish.  Regan McGill, Michelle's older daughter, finished her first half marathon in 2:23:38.

Paul Vita's second The Woodlands Half Marathon was a 2:15:44.

Kim Joyce ran her debut The Woodlands Half Marathon in 2:16:44 while Debra Myers finished her fourth in 2:18:45.

"All's good!" points out Debra Myers.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Myers posted her second straight 2:18-and-change half marathon at The Woodlands Half Marathon, which really excited Dwyer.

"She's one of the most consistent with her training and is an example that anything is possible," he said of the creator and owner of Enfusia, a producer of bath and body products.  "Debra is an inspiration to the whole group. She survived a car accident many years ago and had multiple surgeries after.  We are very blessed to have her and her husband Rob as part of Volte."

Making their The Woodlands Half Marathon debuts were Jenny Fonseca (2:21:03), Desna McDonald (2:35:46) and Ricardo Vargas (2:55:33).

Alfredo Gonzalez rounded us out with his third The Woodlands Half Marathon finish in 3:01:22.

The Priesmeyer family, Rebecca, Sandra and Sarah, represented are Volte/No Boundaries program alumni last Saturday.  Rebecca finished in 2:18:45, while Sandra and Sarah finished within a second of each other at 2:42:52.

We say repeatedly, "Volte has a lot of friends in the community."

Andy Dublin led all of our Volte friends with a 30-34 second place age group finish in 1:18:50.

James Reed finished in 1:26:31 while Tiffany Hauerwas grabbed a first place award with a 1:32:29 showing in the 40-44 division.

Erika Park posted the best of her three finishers at The Woodlands Half Marathon with a 1:35:16 time, as she finished four places behind Tiffany.

Finishing his fourth The Woodlands Half Marathon in 1:40:48 was Edson Jones, while Madelen Davila crossed in 1:55:49.

Not to let their recent nuptials dampen their competitiveness, Dan Jordan made it to the finish line faster than his spouse, Susan Rouse, by little more than a minute, 1:56:21 to 1:57:34.

Barry Craft and Brad Hay finished in 2:14:54 and 2:34:18, respectively, while Barry Blanton, who volunteered the first five years of the race at the finish line, ran it for the first time and recorded a 2:24:09 finish while his wife Fran crossed in 2:25:41.

Just three of our athletes ran in the Fleet Feet Sports 5K - Christopher Medina and a pair of sisters, Brooke and Chloe Kramer.

Christopher, the daughter of Monse Louimeus, led the way with a 32:01 finish.

Much will probably be said for some time that the younger one, Brooke, outlegged the older one, Chloe, to the finish line by a second, as she finished in 45:22.

The evening before, Friday, March 3, we had an arsenal of young athletes participate in the Pathfinder Pediatric 2K Family Fun Run and Walk.

Our next generation of runners included Sarah Comeaux,  Eli Chen, Mike and Mikel Davis, Braeden and Alexander Hyde, Brayden Park and Jack and Anna Looney.

Our big wheel at the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run 10K was Juan Flores.

In fact, it was squeaky and made a lot of noise too.

Outlegging former professional triathlete Leslie LaMacchia to do so, the former Aldine MacArthur General notched a time of 39:59.

"It's been a while since I've gone under 40 minutes in the 10K.  Barely sneaked in!" he remarked.

Wrapping up a busy weekend, we had six at The Woodlands Running Club Sunday Night 5K at Barbara Bush Elementary on Sunday, March 5.

Jerritt Park led us in 19:55, while Flores got a little extra work for the weekend with an effort of 21:32.  Layton Gill and Tim Russell crossed in 23:01 and 24:55, respectively.

Curtis Hooper and Russell ran the entire way themselves, while Mayra Caamano went easy after finishing the marathon the day before, posting a time of 28:49.

Our friends from the Seven Hills Running Club were there as Curtis Barton, Jon Walk and Ken Johnson ran in 26:18, 29:35 and 37:58.