Tuesday, February 15, 2022

From Volte With Love, Running Into Valentine's Day

Despite freezing temperatures in the greater Houston area weekend on Saturday and Sunday, February 12-13, Volte athletes and our friends ran very well as many dial-in for The Woodlands Marathon and Half Marathon coming up in just under three weeks.

Officially joining our group a few weeks ago after training with us off and on the last few year, Angel Martinez Interiano won his age group in 20:02 at one of the largest, yet unknown 5K races in the city, the Steps For Students 5K, which raises monies for Catholic schools in the greater Houston area.

Last weekend, Lillian Evans was winning first place.

Saturday, at the Katy Half Marathon, she was holding her pace -- as the 2:05 pacer!

She said it was her first time to officially pace a race and "got the team across the line on time" with a finishing time of 2:05:29.

Meanwhile, our friends blew out the awards chest.

Volte alumni Kate Looney (Mach5 Racing) was the first overall woman in 1:31:38 while Volte friend Mark Amann was second overall in 1:19:47.  Rip Reynolds (Fleet Feet) was first in his age group in 1:33:48 while C. Stevenson-Lake was second in hers in 1:45:45.

Another Volte alum, Dave Odom, ran the Mesa Half Marathon in 1:54:47 the same morning, February 12, in Mesa, Arizona.

Paolo Biagi and Tammy Grado were there to run the marathon in respective times of 4:09:00 and 4:15:13, respectively.

Volte friend and Waco Miracle Match Marathon race director Nancy Goodnight ran the marathon, where she finished third in her age group in 3:24 -- good for a brand new personal best ... at the age of 55!

Nancy has finished every single Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas and this past year did Ironman on Saturday and Boston on Monday.

Former Volte coach Adrienne Langelier notched a time in Mesa of 3:27:29.

Volte friends Jon Walk and Ken Johnson ran the Spindle Tree parkrun 5K in Magnolia also in 33:39 and 48:04, respectively.

Then came the rescheduled Bridgeland races - the next to last race in the 2021-2022 Texas 10 Series - on Sunday, February 13.

With Erika Sampson and Jen Smith out to support Volte and our friends, a good day was had by all.

Christopher Reed and Stephanie Reed represented us in the 5K with times of 20:12 and 22:57, respectively, that were good for second and first.

The Reeds waiting pensively for the start of the 5K!
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Volte friend Velvia Keithley of the Seven Hills Running Club came in at 1:05:22.

In the five-miler, Volte grabbed a pair of second place age group awards as Jane Campbell record a new personal best in 36:54 while Mike Kuykendall enjoyed a time of 50:57.

Good to see Mike back in blue as he put together a solid 5M performance on Sunday.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

"It was an epic five-mile race," he said.  "(My) fastest pace since knee surgery.  Only decided to run this one the day before and enjoyed hanging with my Volte teammates."

Volte friends Tiffany Langwell and Ken Johnson finished in 1:07:19 and 1:16:51, respectively.  Ken's time was good for third in his age group.

And in the 10-mile race, we had six Voltes and six friends toe the line.

Still leveraging his 2:39 marathon fitness from Houston a few weeks ago, Lu Bouanga won his second Texas 10 race ever with a time of 59:50.  He and women's winner Heather Oliva from San Antonio were misdirected and ran an extra kilometer.

Lu continues to run incredibly well, picking his second win of the 2021-2022 Texas 10 Series.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Bonus mileage is good - when it doesn't cost you the overall win!

Committing a day before and paying full price, Roger King paced Rob Gay for the second straight Texas 10 race as Roger's time of 1:12:07 earned him third place, while Rob was a second behind in 1:12:08.

Marines > Navy as Roger leads Rob through a 1:12 running of the 10-mile course.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Earning an age group placement in her 18th consecutive Texas 10 Series race dating back to 2013, Mayra Caamano won her division and got back under 1:16 for the first in six Texas 10 races with a time of 1:15:58.

Auggie Campbell and Kyley Hampton belted out a pair of new personal best times with marks of 1:19:28 and 1:24:23, respectively.

Big smiles into the finish for Auggie Campbell with a brand new 10-mile personal best.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

C. Stephenson Lake led our Volte friends with a second place age group finish of 1:16:24.  

Northside Running's Christina Gray and Erin Gowton finished close together in 1:32:01 and 1:32:45, respectively.  Erin took first in her age group.

Erin's husband, Jimmie, hustled to a time of 1:44:11 while Norman Langwell and Paul Roche stopped the clock in 1:47:36 and 1:49:02, respectively.

Ramon Rosales' 2nd Place, 100-Mile Finish at Rocky Raccoon Leads Volte into February

The first week of February in Volte, USA was light, but eventful.

Just three weeks after running a stellar 2:36 at the Chevron Houston Marathon, Ramon Rosales, with great support from his wife, two sons and pacers Luis Murillo and Francisco Garza, finished second overall at the Hoka One One Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile Trail race in Huntsville on Saturday, February 5.

Yes!  Ramon Rosales was second overall at 29th running of the Rocky Raccoon 100!
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Ramon finished in 16 hours, five minutes and 11 seconds in his offical debut 100-miler.  (He had previously run 100 miles in a "Backyard Ultra"-like event previously.)

Early the next morning, Sunday, February 6, our runners did a pretty good job of making the "Big Easy" look easy at the New Orleans "Rock N Roll" Half Marathon.

Christopher Branch stopped the clock at 1:38-even, Kim White and Julie Stevenson ran together in 1:51:42 while Judith Albarran posted a time of 1:55:33.

Lillian Evans, in her second Terry Hershey parkrun 5K of the new year, was the first overall female in a time of 24:25 on Saturday, February 5.

Closer to home, and on that same morning, Waverly Walk ran the new Spindle Tree parkrun 5K in Magnolia, which is held on the Spindle Tree Jogging Trail, in a time of 31:47.

Volte friends Vincent Attanucci and Jon Walk completed the course in respective times of 30:55 and 32:51, respectively.

And in a sparsely attended The Woodlands Running Club Sunday Night 5K on Sunday, Febuary 6, Jane Campbell was the first overall finisher in 24:46.  Her husband Auggie finished in 27:28 while Volte friend
Ken Johnson
did so in 45:15.

Thursday, February 3, 2022

Volte Caps Off January With Strong Hot Chocolate, ReRun Trail and College Station 10 Showings

While Nine Volte has a little catching up to do for last month, Volte probably put together its best January in the ten (since 2013) that the group has been formally organized.

The Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Half Marathon were certainly high-performance events for our group, but this past weekend Volte athletes kept the good times – in spirit and on the clock – rolling.

With a familiar voice bringing our runners to the finish line, Volte put its five runners in the top 76 of the 882-finisher Hot Chocolate 15K Houston Saturday, January 28 just outside of Sam Houston Park in downtown Houston.

Four of the five earned both an age group award and a new personal best at the unconventional race distance.

Christopher Reed was 18th overall to take third in his competitive 45-49 age group with a time of 1:06:54.

Seven minutes and 32 seconds in front of his closest competitor in his 60-64 division, Kim White smoked the course with a time of 1:12:01, good for 40th overall.

Even though Stephanie Reed was our only runner who got shut out of the age group award and personal best category, she was our top female finisher, good for 17th overall among all women in a time of 1:15:08.

She had great runners surrounding her in the overall listing – May Shek and Suzy Seeley a couple of spots in front of her and multisport athlete from Conroe, Nicole Mallette, and Mont Belvieu’s Rachel Lowell just following.

Third in her age group was Lillian Evans, who was all smiles coming into the finish with a time of 1:16:59, while Julie Stevenson was more than four and a half minutes better than second place in the ladies’ 55-59 age group as she stopped the clock in 1:18:07 – 24th of 595 females.

Sonia Dhodapkar and Kim Hamilton ran together to lead our Volte friends in 1:23:52 while Woodlands Fit’s Mariela Rodriguez finished nicely in a time of 1:45:11.

Strike Force Racing’s co-founder Gena Alvarez earned her first podium spot with a 28:02, third-place age group time in the Hot Chocolate 5K, while her husband, Greg, was right alongside step for step.

1,983 runners finished the 5K race.

Two of our mileage fiends – that same morning – decided that 15K wasn’t enough for them.

Therefore, they headed to Navasota for the ReRun 5x5 Trail Run.

Runners do a 5K at the top of each hour.

For five hours.

Jerritt Park, who has run virtually the last two years across Tennessee, New York and who knows for sure where else, took third overall in a combined time of 2:10:21.

His 5K times were 26:01, 25:10, 25:55, 28:11 and 26:57.

Meanwhile, Rob Gay took a more linear approach to his times.

They were 28:20, 28:16, 28:47, 29:15 and 29:14.

Knowing these two, there’s no doubt that there were good laughs to go with good running.

The following day, Sunday, January 30, we moved to the fifth race of the 2021-2022 Texas 10 Series in College Station.

Jane Campbell continues to run well, earning first place in her age group at the Aggieland 5K.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Our only runner in the 5K made it count as Jane Campbell won her age group in 23:56.

Our Volte friends from Huntsville were the only five-milers.

Dianna and Ray Sarno continued their couples run of the Texas 10 Series with identical times of 57:48.

Ray won his age group, while Ken Johnson grabbed second in his.

Ken covered the 5-miler in 1:13:46.

We were outnumbered by our friends in the 10-mile race, but our Volte athletes went four for four in age group placements.

Lu continues to leverage his great training from January's preparation for Houston.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Lu Bouanga followed up on his impressive 2:39 debut marathon at Houston with a first-place age group time – and PR – of 53:52.

He was third overall, just seven seconds out of second place.

No truth to the rumor that Roger King is going to start his own “Pace with the King” business as he spurred Rob Gay on to a 1:15:49 finish.

The faces of Rob Gay and Roger King tell the story of Texas 10 College Station.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Roger’s time was a second faster, good for second in the 40-44 division, while Rob was third in the 45-49 age group.

Not quite sure if Kyley Hampton shops at Wal-Mart, but her times in the 10-mile distance are falling faster than one of the world’s largest chain of retailers.

Kyley did beat Victor Maldonado to the line by a tenth of a second in her PR performance.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Hampton was second in her 30-34 age group with a personal best time of 1:24:28.

Our Volte friends did well too, including four age group awards.

Representing Fleet Feet, Rip Reynolds led the way with a first-place age group time of 1:10:08.

Nicole Green and Cristina Gray, who both run for Northside Running, each won third in their respective divisions with times of 1:22:41 and 1:35:26, respectively.

Seven Hills Running Club’s David Keithley posted a mark of 1:29:15.

James Griffis - a great athlete and a gentleman.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

James Griffis was second in his 65-69 age group in 1:32:46.

Erin and Jimmie Gowton, with their positive countenances, ran the two-loop course in 1:35:42 and 1:48:22.

And its great to continue to see Norman Langwell get back to running races consistently as he lodged a time of 1:48:30.