Volte Springs Into April After a Successful March

Things in Volte, USA were still a little quiet in the month of March post-The Woodlands Marathon.

Of course, Harris County judge Lina Hidalgo still has a lockdown on permitting races south of us; therefore, all runners must satisfy their racing desires elsewhere.

Our runners have done that more than a time or two already as we are an adventurous bunch.

So, cue up the Bobby McFerrin classic, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”

One day after The Woodlands Marathon came the monthly The Woodlands Running Club Sunday Night 5K at Barbara Bush Elementary in The Woodlands on Sunday, March 7.

Seven Voltes and three friends were among the evening’s finishers.

Jerritt Park led our group with a 20:32 but yielded the overall to Volte friend Stoya Leydevant in 20:19.

Todd Hunter finishing up his second loop of the Barbara Bush parking lot in the first mile.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Todd Hunter and Rob Gay were next in 24:40 and 24:57, respectively.  

Rob was just a day removed from finishing The Woodlands Marathon – and showed no ill effects and reportedly posted one of his better times at the distance.

Somewhere underneath that smile, Rob Gay was really grimacing after running a marathon the day before, right?
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Coach Layton Gill ran with his son, Carson, and they finished together in 34:29.

Judith Albarran and Christopher Branch also both ran The Woodlands Marathon the day before and encouraged Carson a few steps behind in 34:47.

A pair of long-time friends of Volte – Debbie Tripp and Ken Johnson – finished in 42:57 and 43:56, respectively.

Rob Goyen could have renamed his San Felipe Shootout on Saturday, March 20, 2021 as the Murillo Go Round.  

Maybe a bit of a stretch, but the format of the Shootout was to first run a 5K, then a 10K and finish it up with a half marathon, which started close to noon.

Luis Murillo led the way with first place overall finishes in the 5K and half marathon with marks of 19:02 and 1:20:50 while taking second overall in the 10K in 40:38.

Brother Juan recorded times of 22:02 in the 5K, 47:05 in the 10K and 1:34:55 in the half marathon.

Father Jose ran the 10K in 1:00:45.

If you hear Randy Harris roll off a little “Roll Tide!” the next time you see him, it might be because he was at epicenter of Alabama fandom on Sunday, March 21, 2021 – Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

He was there to run the Tuscaloosa Tourism & Sports Half Marathon.

A few years ago, Randy was selected to run the Athens Marathon from all the four-hour or better marathon finishers at the Chevron Houston Marathon as part of the two events’ exchange program.

While there, he met Glenn Dodd.

Glenn runs the half marathon in Tuscaloosa every year.

He recently, though, had quintuple bypass surgery, was just getting back to running and Randy went there to pace him the distance.

A hallmark of not only Randy’s personal character, but what we strive for here at Volte as well.

The two crossed the finish line in 2:31:11.

Well done, gentlemen!

Texas 10 Huntsville or Huntsville 10.  

Whatever you call it, Volte ran well – 13 runners, 10 age group placements.

One would have thought Oprah was at the finish line going, “You get a glass.  And you get a glass and YOU get a glass!”

Twelve of our closest Volte friends were there too – and half of them had holders for their favorite recovery beverage.

In the 5K, our good friends with the Tough Runners Club – Alvaro and Lusi Trejo – covered the distance in 26:19 and 31:16, respectively.  Alvaro was third in his age group.

They both have run all four races of the 2020-2021 Texas 10 Series.

Roger King beat his brother to the finish line by a minute in the 5-mile race.  Roger got in under 32 minutes in a time of 31:56, while Robert posted a mark of 32:56.

Running his second straight 5-miler in the Series was Jerritt Park, who won his age group in 35:23.

Coach Layton Gill’s first race of the Series saw him turning in a time of 43:10, while Diana Gayle and Trudy Regnier rounded out our Voltes with second and first place age group showings for their respective 47:06 and 49:55 efforts.

Erin Gowton led our friends with a third-place age group finish of 45:26.

Jon Walk finished in 49:53, bettering his time by almost a minute from 2018's race.

A minute behind was Jimmie Gowton in 50:53 as both he and his wife, Erin, have done all four 5-milers of the 2020-2021 Series.

Ray and Diana Sarno finished their third 5-miler of the Series together in a time of 58:36.  Ray won his age group.

Seven Hills Running Club’s Ken Johnson crossed his hometown finish line in 1:12:43.

In the marquee race, Darren Hadden won his age group, was the third fastest masters and sixth overall – including Volte’s fastest finisher – in 1:05:58.

Darren Hadden is just too excited about charging the hill to head back towards the finish line area.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Amanda Jenkins was hoping for her eighth career Texas 10 Series victory but was denied by COVID-19 racing protocols which saw Seabrook’s Melissa Bittick being declared the winner for the fastest overall time even though Jenkins was the first across the finish line in 1:06:34.

Amanda Jenkins is thinking, "Where there's a hill, there's a way."  Great job on second overall!
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Capturing her second age group win in four Series races was Erika Sampson, who beat her closest competitor by almost five minutes in 1:16-even.

Rob Gay ran his first race of the 2020-2021 Series in a time of 1:16:29.

Going three-for-three on the podium this Series is Mayra Caamano.

After a pair of third-place finishes at Conroe and College Station, Mayra won her age group by almost three minutes with a time of 1:17:14.

Caamano ran the first two editions of Texas 10 Huntsville in 2013 and 2014 with times of 1:17:16 and 1:17:05, respectively.

Impressive to be able to toe the line on the same time seven years later!

Michael Gayle and Paul Roche rounded out our team in the 10-miler as they battled the double loop course in 1:31:37 and 1:48:05, respectively.

Our friends had excellent showings as well.

Mark Amann won his second straight Huntsville 10 and fourth Texas 10 Series race ever with a winning time of 56:35.

Second-place age group placements went to Kevin Baker and Rip Reynolds, respectively, in 1:07:08 and 1:08:26, while Cristina Grey finished in 1:28:25.

And a big shout-out to Carlos Rodriguez, Christopher Branch, Judith Albarran and George Roffe for their support at the race in Huntsville.  Much appreciated!