Volte Sees Great Groups of Runners for Turkey Day Races

"Over the river and through the woods to ...."

Oops, wrong holiday.

Or was it?

Who knew that three-mile and five-mile participants of the 32nd annual Run Thru The Woods in The Woodlands on Thanksgiving Day were going to have to run through standing water on the roads that felt like running "over the river" to Grandma's house.

While we had 27 Volte athletes and 16 friends get in two-thirds of a triathlon, we did also have some friends and Voltes that ran elsewhere on Thanksgiving Day.

Darren Hadden and his daughter Brooke ran in the Fleet Feet Turkey Day 8K in Ridgeland, Mississippi, just north of Jackson.

Dad grabbed second place in his age group with a 32:04 effort while Brooke set a PR - first time at the distance - with a mark of 49:57.

Moving west, Volte friend Terence Baptiste scored a time of 36:59 in the 112th New Orleans Athletic Club Turkey Day Race 5-Miler in New Orleans.

In the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Volte friend George Orebe ran to a time of 22:24 in the Plano Turkey Trot 5K.

And, then, down in the Valley, Yaya Herrera, in her first race since Ironman Texas, was the third overall woman, in 47:10, in the Turkey Trot 10K in Mission.

Yaya all smiles with her third overall effort!
(Photo courtesy of Yaya Herrera)

Jerritt and Kristi Park's daughter, Riley, was the only Volte athlete who got to run rain free at Run Thru The Woods as she was second in her age group with a 7:40 one-mile that started and finished before the downpours started.

In the three-mile race, Erika Sampson led us with a first place age group time of 21:59.  

Erika Sampson gets an assist from Mother Nature to her 7:20 pace for an AG win!
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Isaac Rodriguez just barely finished in a faster time than Jason Bodie and his son, Theodore.  Isaac crossed in 23:41, while the father-and-son team followed three seconds later by chip time.

Rebecca Coates posted a time of 31:27 while Debra Myers and Llana Bingham ran the race together and finished in 33:28.

And in the father-daughter division, Gilbert Grado ran with his and Tammy's daughter Cassidy in a time of 44:40.

Father-daughter combination, Gilbert and Cassidy Grado look totally unbothered by the rain!
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

A good group of friends also participated in the three mile, including The Woodlands High School freshman Stoya Laydevant, who was second overall in 18:29; Wil and Lauren Cole, who ran together in 27:37; Strike Force Racing's Greg and Gena Alvarez with times of 28:48 and 30:44, and Galloway The Woodlands' Molly Field-Stout and Debbie Tripp, who completed the course together in 49:29.

Seventeen (17) runners ran the marquee five-mile race and eight of our Voltes bragged at lunchtime dinner tables about their age group awards!

They wouldn't brag, would they?  :-)

Where there's a race, there's a Murillo, right?

Luis and Juan led the way with first-place age group awards with times of 29:54 and 34:03, respectively.  Jerritt Park and Christopher Branch were not too far back of Juan with first and third place age group placements of their own on efforts of 34:41 and 34:45, respectively.

You might have though that Brayden took it easy on Dad after beating him on Saturday on the cross country course when you see his posted time of 36:40, but there's a story.

He managed to take a wrong turn, following a runner that was not in the race when the rain was very heavy), and by the time he realized it and got back on track he added about a half mile to the run.

Paolo Biagi, after a blazing first mile trying to ride on former Rice Owl Connor Meaux's coattails, settled in for a five-mile best time of 38:10.

Finishing slightly under eight minutes a mile was Judith Albarran with a time of 39:30 while Jose Murillo was slightly over, capturing first place in his 70-74 age group in 40:47.

Tammy Grado took third place in her age group with a 42:34 mark, while daughter and father Michaela and Mike Csikos ran together in 45:57 and coaches Layton Gill and Rich Cooper finished in 47:06 and 47:52, respectively.

Dan Jordan and Susan Rouse finished a minute apart in 48:02 and 49:12, respectively, but Susan took third in her division.

After singing the National Anthem before the race, Waverly Walk finished in 52:33 and our group's effort was rounded out by Taylor Grado, who finished her first five-miler in 1:00:07, and Geri Henry, who was second in her age group with a time of 1:05:41.

Our friends ran well in the rain too, including four age group placements.

Patrick Wills and Rip Reynolds went first in their age groups in 30:33 and 33:39, respectively.  John Slate and James Griffis followed with second and third place winnings of their own with times within a minute of each other, 43:13 and 43:39.

Christina Gray and Jill Tresaugue, kind of like soccer, finished in the 45th minute, Cristina at the 45-minute even mark while Jill was just 51 seconds behind.

Volte friend Jill Tresaugue is smiling in the downpour. 
First time we may have gotten a picture of Jill on the Volte blog.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Vincent Attanucci came in in 48:13, while Erika Lawton and Mariela Rodriguez closed the books on all of our friends' finishes with times of 52:46 and 54:42, respectively.

The following two days, the last two races of the Montgomery County Triple, created back in 2006 by Bill Dwyer, Jon Walk and Rick Cook, were contested.

Bill and Jon - more Bill some years - produce the Friends of the Running Community 5K and sometimes a second version on Saturday when Run The Woodlands doesn't fall on the fourth Saturday in November.  (In some years, it has been on the fifth Saturday.)

Friends of the Running Community 5K

Friday, November 26, The Woodlands, TX

Jerritt Park – 21:31, Christopher Branch – 23:21, Jason Bodie – 23:37, Layton Gill – 29:08, Rich Cooper – 30:52, Tammy Grado – 31:56, Paolo Biagi – 31:56

Friends: John Slate – 28:19, Jon Walk – 46:52, Ken Johnson – 46:55

Tim Russell and Rob Myers.  We think they've run more than a few miles together.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Run The Woodlands 5K

Saturday, November 27, The Woodlands, TX

Brayden Park – 20:41, Jerritt Park – 21:02, Christopher Branch – 23:48, Jason Bodie – 24:22, Cara Branch – 31:55, Rich Cooper – 30:11, Tim Russell – 30:24, Rob Myers – 30:24, Tammy Grado – 32:28, Layton Gill – 32:28, Paolo Biagi – 32:28

Friends: John Slate – 27:54, Nita Shinde – 28:58

Nine Volte would have said, "Don't let your Dad beat you!" to Brayden Park
(Photo courtesy of Bil Dwyer)

This year's Montgomery County Triple finishers are Jerritt Park, Christopher Branch, Jason Bodie, Layton Gill, Rich Cooper, Tammy Grado, Paolo Biagi, John Slate and Ken Johnson.

Thank you for helping to keep a longstanding Thanksgiving weekend tradition alive.