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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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