Better Than A Four-Topping Pizza, Volte Runs Well in Four States!

Great weekend in Volte, USA.  Hope it was for you as well!

Our runners and friends raced close to home in addition to Illinois, Idaho and Washington state.

Mike Csikos and Kelly Hugo both earned age group awards in the Woodforest Charity Run 10K on Saturday, September 14 in Conroe.

Sunshine stopped the clock in 44:20, good for third, while Kelly’s time of 57:13 earned her second in her division.

Mark Amann led our Volte friends with a first-place overall finish, getting the win in 35:35.

Mia Cieslar and Dr. John Slate garnered hardware with times of 49:08 and 51:27, good for second and third places, respectively.

Vincent Attanucci finished in 57:23.

When you finish two Ironmans, you can pick your Volte label – whether it is Volte, friend or alumni.

They all fit interchangeably for Landa Wright, who was third in her age group in the Woodforest Charity Run 5K in 23:23.  Our Yvette Guerra followed in 24 minutes even.

And Volte friend Christina Gray finished in 28:14.

The same morning in Illinois, Michelle McGill posted yet another Boston Qualifier with a 3:50:25 effort at the Last Chance BQ26.2 Marathon in Geneva.

Michelle channeled her unique bib number (35516 - the time she needed and 16th time to beat it) into a bell-ringing finale.
(Photo courtesy by Tammy Grado)

It beat the new qualifying standard by four minutes and 34 seconds.

Brian Schultz was under the weather and didn’t run, but joined Tammy Grado and Kristi Chen – who flew in from Texas and New Jersey – to support Michelle and her effort.

On Sunday, September 15 in Boise, Idaho, Faith Craig’s dad, Thomas Thomson, was second in his 60-64 age group in the Jack & Jill Marathon.

That’s nice, right?

The nicest thing of all was a blazing time of 3:49:37, which was a qualifying time by 15 minutes and 23 seconds.  No worries about Thomas being able to sign up to run Boston!

Our founder Bill Dwyer led a group of seven, including five competitors, to the Tunnel Light Marathon – a Volte staple – in North Bend, Washington.

And the rain, sometimes heavy, yet delivered all day, didn’t dampen the spirits of our runners or friends.

Of six Voltes and friends, there were definitely four personal bests and four Boston qualifying times (maybe a fifth for 2020), but most importantly, 100% good times.

First across the line was Juan Flores, who clocked a four-minute, 39-second personal best time of 3:12:42 – a Boston qualifier by eight minutes and 18 seconds.

Juan Flores stalking the 3:15 pacer.  And it worked!
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

A few minutes back was Juan’s friend, Josh Rivas, who finished in 3:16:25 – a PR of four minutes and 58 seconds in addition to a BQ by 3:35.

The biggest personal best of the group belonged to Holly Benson, who rolled out a 12-minute, 11-second reduction of her previous best that showed 3:37:35 on the clock.

That's a triumphant, 12-minute PR look from Holly Benson!
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Two-time Ironman finisher Mandi Fowlkes – a long-time Volte friend – PR’d by three minutes and 26 seconds for a finishing time of 3:45:10 – a BQ time by four minutes and 50 seconds.

“Mandi is coached by Ashley Williams, a teacher and soccer program director at The Woodlands Christian Academy, who coaches cycling and triathletes,” said Dwyer.  “He did a really good job in preparing Mandi (for this race).”

Volte friend Meri Laydevant, who runs at the track at Knox Junior High and has a daughter that has completed our Friends of the Running Community Montgomery County Triple, will definitely be qualified for the 2021 Boston Marathon as she finished in 3:45:05 – four minutes and 55 seconds faster than her standard.

“She’s 44,” Dwyer said.  “So depending on her birthday she may have qualified for 2020.”

And 47 will be Trudy Regnier’s new favorite number for awhile.

With less than a minute to spare, Trudy did a great job in earning her BQ on Sunday!
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

That’s the close margin - in seconds - that she can once again call herself a Boston qualifier as she earned the title with a time of 4:19:13.

Trudy did so bouncing back from an injury or two this summer.