Park and Sanchez lead Volte at The Woodlands Marathon 5K

A small crew of Volte athletes ran well Saturday at the 10th annual The Woodlands Marathon 5K and Pathfinder Pediatric 2K, setting the stage for next Saturday's The Woodlands Marathon, Half Marathon and inaugural 10K.

While five actually participated in the 5K, just two -- Jerritt Park and Maria Sanchez -- were racing it.

Maria Sanchez was all ready to go for Saturday's The Woodlands Marathon 5K
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Park, 43, posted his best time in three consecutive The Woodlands Marathon 5K races with a 20:45 effort.

Sanchez, meanwhile, grabbed second place in her 15-19 age group and was fifth overall as she jubilantly punched out a time of 21:21.  

Roger King, who will be running his first marathon this Saturday, took it easy, finishing in 21:16 while his brother, Robert, who's also debuting at the marathon distance Saturday, paced his son, Hunter, 9, to a time of 35:09.

Volte friends Kim White and Julie Stevenson, who both also will be running the marathon, stopped the clock in 22:07 and 23:43, respectively, as they each took second place in their age groups.

Community legend Jim Braden, 85, took first place in the 75-and-over age group in an impressive 35:27, in front of 111 of the event's 353 finishers.  

He was one of two 85-year-olds who finished, the other being Ole Lorenzetti of Fort Worth.  

A third 85-year-old runner, Jack Baker, who had finished seven previous The Woodlands Marathon 5K was registered, but did not start on Saturday.

Paced by her Mom, Kristi, Riley Park ran well, finishing the 2K in 11:10.

Volte athlete Waverly Walk, who will be running her 14th career half marathon this Saturday, sang the National Anthem before the race.

Waverly Walk (far right) will also sing the National Anthem on Saturday.  She sang the Anthem at the first two editions (2012-2013) of this current version of The Woodlands Marathon
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

She will be one of 17 Voltes running the half, while another 17 will be running the marathon and three will be competing in the 10K, including Sanchez.