The Road to Houston - A Look Back: Michelle McGill and Mayra Caamano in 2014

The 2014 Chevron Houston Marathon was just the second time that Volte had gathered as a club for the event after getting its start midway through the 2012 calendar year.

Volte was somewhat of an expansion team - but a darned good one - with runners gravitating to run under founder Bill Dwyer's guidance. 

And, of course, it never hurts to have a US level class athlete in David Odom running with the group ready to dispense wisdom from his stellar running career.

Two runners, however, Michelle McGill and Mayra Caamano, who both recorded what is still their personal best to date, proved that day that there isn't just one way to earn a PR and a BQ.

"The 2014 event was a very good day for us. The weather was good, training had gone well and as a whole our group did very well," said Dwyer.

The two ladies, separated in age by ten years from one another, were part of a group of six athletes who earned their Boston qualifier to be able to join up with four other Volte runners to race Boston in April 2015.

McGill had not only run to her previous personal best just three months before at the Chicago Marathon, but 2013 as a whole had been one of her best years ever as a marathoner.

The ledger looked like this:

3:47:36 - Chevron Houston Marathon, Houston, 1/13/13

3:48:55 - The Woodlands Marathon, The Woodlands, 3/2/13

3:44:39 - Boston Marathon, Boston, MA, 4/15/13

3:39:05 - Chicago Marathon, Chicago, IL, 10/13/13

It all would prove to be in the middle of a streak that saw her string together 14 consecutive sub 4-hour marathons.

"Michelle had put in a solid training cycle for Chicago in October, recovered well and then did a short training cycle for Houston," Dwyer noted.

And the weather couldn't have been better, with a temperature of 50 degrees at the 7 a.m. start that rose to 62 degrees by the time both McGill and Caamano had finished.

"Wow, that was a good day!  The weather was perfect!," remembered McGill.  "It is always great to see my family out there and all the Volte friends on the course."

Dwyer, that year, was positioned near the mile 26 flag and she said that she recalled "seeing his smiling face at mile 26 and actually feeling good."

When you know that you're feeling it, you show it like Michelle McGill here!
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Like Devyn Cook did six years later at the 2020 Chevron Houston Marathon, McGill couldn't have been any more on the money.

Her first three 5K splits to the 15K mark were 25:51, 25:20 and 25 minutes even.

She made the halfway point in 1:47:18.

"I mentioned to her that she was ready for a 3:35 the night before," Dwyer said.

And McGill didn't believe it, even now.

"Also, the night before when you sent me my race plan, I thought, "No way!"

Hold steady - and the prize would be hers.

And she did.

From the 25K to the 40K flag, Michelle replicated her even pace with 5K times of 25:21, 25:41 and 25:48.

The back half came in at 1:47:41 -- for a total time of 3:34:59, one second off of Dwyer's projections.

"Crazy" was how McGill recalled it.

One of Volte's mantras, though, has always been "family first".

Unless, of course, you're left with no choice.

That's what Mayra Caamano was dealt with leading up to the 2014 Chevron Houston Marathon.

One of her daughters had been very sick in the fall.

"I truly did not have a good training cycle prior to the race," Caamano remembered.  "As a matter of fact, just two weeks before race day, I was still debating whether I should do it or not."

"Mayra has a lot of talent and is never really that far out of shape," Dwyer said.  

And for Caamano, where there's one part talent, there's usually - at least - three parts heart to go along with her God-given ability.

"I wasn’t able to commit to running in the months prior.  So, my body wasn’t strong enough and my mind wasn’t in the right place either," she said.  "Pretty much at the last minute I decided I would run the race with my heart and let it be whatever it would be."

"My memory is that she went out too fast (which she did) and hung on as best she could," said Dwyer.

She breezed through the first 15K with 5K splits of 23:43, 22:55 and 23:00 -- paces of 7:38, 7:23, 7:25 -- and came to the halfway point in 1:38:53.

Hold that - and she would shatter her first three marathon times of 3:53:56 (Rock N Roll Las Vegas, 12/4/11), 3:54:40 (The Woodlands, 3/3/12) and 3:56:13 (Marine Corps, 10/28/12).

Even though she held onto the sub-8 minute pace to the 25K mark, Caamano posted a back half time of 1:46:29 to turn in a crazy 26-minute and 34-second personal best for a closing time of 3:27:22.

Caamano, not far from the finish, was putting the finishing touches on a crazy new PR.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

"I knew she could run a BQ but did not expect it on this day," Dwyer remarked of Caamano who had come over to Volte from Falcon Fit.

She still smiles today thinking about the race.

"It turned out to be the perfect day for that kind of risk and adventure," she shared.  "One of my favorite races to date."

Caamano would turn in a time of 3:27:14 three years later at The Woodlands Marathon, but the course turned out to be some six tenths of a mile short because of an error by the lead cyclist.

McGill, meanwhile, will be running her 15th Chevron Houston Marathon at the 2022 race with nine of her last 10 being sub 4-hour efforts.  Her entire Chevron Houston Marathon race history follows:

2007 - 4:43:05

2008 - 4:29.01

2009 - 4:32:02

2010 - 4:18:53

2011 - 3:58:38

2012 - 3:54:15

2013 - 3:47:36

2014 - 3:34:59

2015 - 3:55:02

2016 - 3:41:53

2017 - 4:09:39

2018 - 3:52:03

2019 - 3:57:20

2020 - 3:49:37

The Road to Houston - A Look Back: Devyn Cook in 2020

At First Watch restaurant in College Station earlier this month after the BCS Half Marathon, Volte founder Bill Dwyer was sitting with a small group of his athletes updating his paper worksheet while waiting for their food to be delivered.

While certainly pleased with his athletes' efforts and performances, and never one to brag himself, he was delightfully happy that nearly everyone's time that morning fell within a targeted range that he had for them based on their training.

For a coach, it is as much a validation of their guidance as it is for the athlete of their effort in training and on race day.

It wasn't new territory, though, for Dwyer.

As he waited for fellow coach Layton Gill to pick him up the morning of the 2020 Chevron Houston Marathon, he was pretty certain that one of Gill's athletes - then 24-year-old Devyn Cook - had an opportunity of a special day.

One that she had been working on for 11 and a half years.

And that was to be able to run well enough to qualify to run in the Boston Marathon.

It would be her fifth effort at the 26.2-mile distance and since her debut at the distance four years earlier, she had come a long way from an opening time of 4:47:51 at the 2016 Chevron Houston Marathon.

And just one year before, while running a very respectable 3:43:34, it was on the outside looking in at the three hour and 30-minute qualifying standard.

Although Cook admitted in her Instagram postings that the hardest part of her running journey was jealousy.

"I had been through a lot as a runner, and I had a “woe is me” attitude," she admitted.  "I desperately wanted my journey to be easier. I took it personally that it wasn’t. 

"I faced obstacle after obstacle all while seeing it come together for others, which broke my heart.  It hurt my love of the sport.  I decided that I was not going to have this mentality anymore."

And, according to Gill, that was part of what she did.

"She had a more focused training approach," he said.  "She limited the focus on what others were doing and truly focused on what she could control.  

"She also took a less is more approach to limit injuries."

Cook said in her Instagram postings that she peaked at 56.5 miles per week.

"Devyn's training had been very solid and Layton's plan for her was to target 3:20," said Dwyer.  "While on the course cheering and supporting everyone, we were constantly watching the tracker and Devyn was on pace at every check point."

Cook started the race running with Holly Benson and Mayra Caamano and treated the first two miles as a warmup going at a 7:55 per mile clip.

Early in the 2020 Chevron Houston Marathon, Devyn Cook was excited that the day was unfolding well.  (Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

But when the 3:20 pace group passed her, it was time to take chase.  

It took her to mile 10, she wrote, though, to catch the 3:20 pace group.

Her official time showed her at 24:11 for the first 5K and 23:11 the next 5K for a total 10K time of 47:22 -- and then she produced a 23:14 5K to the 15K mark.

When she made it to the half-way point, she had a new half marathon personal best of 1:39:29.

"Mile after mile, I maintained the pace," Cook wrote.

And indeed she did.

Because there wasn't a separate 20K timing mat, her time from the 15K to the 25K was 47:36, just 14 seconds slower than the first 10K of the race.

From the 25K to the 35K mark, 47 minutes even.

She was running like a metronome -- and Roger and Robert King - a pair of Marines - hadn't even joined Volte yet.

And Cook darned near negative split the entire race -- going 1:39:29 in the front half and 1:39:53 in the back half.

Cook was focused coming through the Memorial Park area on her way to her fifth CHM finish.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

She rode the wave of emotions from mile 20 on in.

"People cheered the pace group on and commented about how strong we looked and how fast we were," she said.  "A guy shouted that we were going to qualify for Boston at that pace.  It felt like royalty."

In the later miles, when she was sure that she would qualify for Boston, she said that she started to sob, but told herself to cry at the finish line as she was starting to cramp up.

"I had a thought that I could break 3:20," she said. "But I would be happy anyway if I qualified. 

"At mile 26, I passed the 3:20 pace group and heard my mom shouting “You’re going to qualify for Boston.”  I booked it (on in) to the finish line in 3:19:22."

There she found Olympian Meb Kelfezighi's arms to fall into and cried once there.

After the race, Cook had realized a dream that because of the pandemic was slightly delayed -- and that was to run the Boston Marathon, which she did this past October.

Sort of a victory lap of her running to date.

Turning 26 on race day this year, where she'll run Houston for the sixth time, Cook's progression has been nothing short of impressive, including running two faster times the last two years at The Woodlands Marathon.

Devyn's complete marathon history is here:

2016 - Chevron Houston Marathon - 4:47:51

2017 - Chevron Houston Marathon - 4:55:49

2018 - Chevron Houston Marathon - 4:02:17

2019 - Chevron Houston Marathon - 3:43:34

2020 - Chevron Houston Marathon - 3:19:21

2020 - The Woodlands Marathon - 3:13:09

2021 - The Woodlands Marathon - 3:16:56

2021 - Boston Marathon - 4:04:27

That day, she was certainly grateful for all that she experienced and learned, which later in 2020 segued into her receiving her RRCA Coaching certification.

We're all excited to see where the roads lead for Cook in her life - and running life too.

The Road to Houston - A Look Back: Yaya Herrera and Laura Godfrey in 2019

We've all been there after a race, regardless of our ability level.  

That nagging question:  "What if?"

The race plan is executed well.

We run strong.

Our coach is pleased.

But we miss a personal best, a time goal, a time standard, such as a BQ, or a benchmark like 3:30.

Ugh.

"The 2019 Chevron Houston Marathon was a good day for our group," said founder Bill Dwyer.  "We'll circle back over the next few days with a few other mentions."

Dwyer called the weather "favorable" but Yaya Herrera remembered that it was a cold morning.

With the exception of some easterly winds, it was perfect racing weather for the 2019 Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

"I don’t like the cold so when the temperature is low I suffer," she said.  "The waiting time in the starting line is always hard."

She was also a little disheveled because "we got there a little late and just on time to line up in the starting corral".

But even though she said that she never knows how she is going to do, "if my legs feel good I just move" and "that morning (my) legs felt great".

The temperature at the start of the race was a crisp 53 degrees that never got higher than 56 through the duration of the race.

But the winds, which were at nine miles an hour at the start of the race and ticked up to 13 mph by the time Herrera and Laura Godfrey made it on to Allen Parkway, made it seem much cooler.

Godfrey said she remembered taking advantage of the tailwind -- as it it came out of the east or east-northeast the entire day -- in the first half of the race because she "knew the headwinds were going to slow me down coming up Memorial".

Dwyer saw them both - among all of the other Volte athletes - and remembered them "looking to be on a mission at six miles".

Herrera, who started 25 seconds behind Godfrey, caught her at the 10K timing mat.

Herrera was having a great day on the course at the 2019 Chevron Houston Marathon.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

"Laura has always been like one of my superheroes:  very strong, determined and a beautiful human being," said Herrera.  "That's why I felt so happy when I caught up with her on the route. 

"She is very familiar with the route and I remember she described to me what was next, I think a hill or something like that.  That talks loud about her beautiful heart."

That day was Godfrey's 7th Houston Marathon, having started in 2012 with a time of 4:38:29 and interrupted just once by the half marathon in 2013.

She said that she also drew strength from Mayra Caamano - who she caught just before - because "as always, (she) told me words of encouragement."

To Dwyer's point, both runners produced their fastest 5K split on the way to the 15K point, which is just after turning west off Main on to University.

Herrera, who was making her Houston Marathon debut, passed through the halfway point in 1:42:43 with Godfrey not far behind in 1:43:57.

Their paces slowed a little getting to the Tanglewood area, but quickened again to the 30K marker - with 7:49 and 7:53 paces - before starting to be exposed to the head winds.

And that's where Herrera remembered - mile 21 - "that it was hard".

Laura Godfrey running strong, like Herrera mentioned earlier.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

But Dwyer said that - even with the headwinds - "at mile 23 (both) were still holding on to PR pacing."

He lauded them for "their focus on the task at hand" being "incredible".

Herrera two years earlier had posted her best at the 2017 Tunnel Light Marathon with a 3:34:02 - her first try at Houston was in January 2018 with a 3:39:32.

Godfrey's, meanwhile, had come a year earlier at Houston with a time of 3:37:59.

She remembered seeing Dwyer and fellow Volte coach Layton Gill on Allen Parkway thinking "I had a chance at making it under 3:30".

And while Herrera wondered post-race with Dwyer that "I should have pushed a little harder for the 11 seconds to break 3:30", it was likely God - even with Herrera saying that she repeated her personal mantra throughout the race of "I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me" - who had the greater say (with the wind) - and perhaps another plan - in the day.

Regardless, both Herrera and Godfrey were rewarded with brand new personal bests of 3:30:10 and 3:31:16, which represented respective improvements of 3 minutes and 52 seconds for Herrera and six minutes and 46 seconds for Godfrey.

Yaya, after finishing her first Ironman in October at Ironman Texas, will be racing her third Chevron Houston Marathon in less than three weeks.

The Road To Houston - A Look Back: David Odom and Krista Blevins in 2013

Over the years, Volte has had some prolific training duos - or even, at times, trios.

We see this today with what Nine Volte likes to call the "We three kings of Volte running are" -- Roger and Robert King and Darren Hadden, Paolo Biagi and Tammy Grado and the longest-running duo of our group, Laura Godfrey and Sandra Tezino.

But in the early days of Volte it was Dave (David) Odom and Krista Blevins.

And while most of Volte's runners have always had a high HQ - humility quotient, Dave and Krista's HQ, for their ability level, was off the charts.

"I love Dave," says Volte founder Bill Dwyer, "He is famous in our group for saying stuff like "I really wasn't that fast". He's very humble.

"Krista like Dave is pretty humble about how well she runs."

Dave, who currently lives in Tucson, has a long history in the running community in Houston -- and at the Houston Marathon.

He was second overall in 1978 in 2:23:00, followed it up with a fourth-place finish the year following in 2:19:31 and posted his personal best in 1984 with a 2:17:13.

And, he ran in the 1984 United States Olympic Marathon Trials.

"We had Jeff Wells come speak to our groups several years ago. Dave was there," said Dwyer.  "The first thing Jeff mentioned (after seeing Dave) was telling the group about Dave at UH (Jeff competed for Rice)."

Even when he ran at the Polish Pickle 5K in Bremond many years ago, long-time Terlingua Running club member and race director Ken Yanowski - after seeing Dave had won his age group - provided a short and unexpected bio about Dave to everyone there.

Krista's personal best came - at the age of 32 - in 2002 at the Chicago Marathon with a 3:01:27, but even 10 years later - at the inaugural The Woodlands Marathon - she won the masters division in 3:11:52 that earned her a BQ which she used to run a 3:14:44 the following year in Beantown.

Camille Herron (1st), Krista Blevins (5th), Rebecca Bell (4th) and Allie Scott (2nd) after the inaugural The Woodlands Marathon in The Woodlands' Market Street.
(Photo courtesy of Jon Walk)

But leading up to the 2013 Aramco Houston Half Marathon, Dave and Krista ran a lot of training miles together.

On race day, they finished two seconds apart, both taking second place in their respective age groups.  Dave stopped the clock in 1:28:16 while Krista was right there - in 1:28:18.

In the picture below, they were also - two seconds apart - in one of the wettest races in the marathon's history (independent of the 1987 ice storm) making this year's Run Thru The Woods look like a light shower.

Krista Blevins chasing David Odom all through Houston during the 2013 Aramco Houston Half Marathon  (Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

"Dave mentioned after the race that every time he looked back Krista was right there," Dwyer reminisced.  "Two good friends pushing and pulling each other; fun stuff.

"They were a perfect training match in 2012-13 making it fun and memorable to see them two seconds apart that rainy day in Houston."

Volte Runners Aiming for Houston Pass Their Tests at BCS Half Marathon

Somewhere in Sunday's field at the BCS Marathon and Half Marathon, there was a runner whose bib said, "I Love Steph".

It was supposed to be affixed to the shirt of our own Christopher Reed, confessing his undying love for his wife, Stephanie.

However, likely an error in the electronic file that was sent to the bib printer assigned bib names to others as randomly as a spin on "Wheel of Fortune".

And, boy o boy, were there some doozies in the mix-up.

Instead of "I Love Steph", Chris Reed seemed to enjoy the irreverent "Nooner" reference that he wore on his BCS Half Marathon run.

Stephanie was "Camryn Heye" for the day.

Roger and Robert King became "Kelli" and "Christi".  And if those ladies got their bib and were twins, well, they should all buy lottery tickets.

Kyley Hampton struck the "Big Bad Rosie Pose".

Who knew that "Jacob Blankenship" was Kim White's alter ego?

Darren Hadden got handed "Sanders".  Might have been fun to have put a Colonel in front of that with a Sharpie.

And so on it went.

Auggie Campbell was "Geoff".

Robert Cardnell became "Abby", and he ran with such acclaim that he could have moved into a starring role on "Downton Abbey".

Just call Devyn Cook "Daniel".

Randy Harris was "Krista".

Julie Stevenson was the only one that drew a same gender reference with "Celeste".

Buddies Michael Gayle and Scott Haney were "Kathryn" and "Mindy".

And Jane Campbell was just Jane.  

She had a VIP registration.  Guess the race was smart not to comingle those in the same data file.

Faith Craig had nothing, as they issued her bib on Saturday.

It definitely provided for a ton of laughs that likely loosened our folks -- aside from the great summer and fall training -- to eight personal bests and six age group awards on Sunday, December 12.

The day before, though, Kristi Park was the second woman overall in the Santa Dash 10K that was held on The Woodlands Waterway.  She earned the award in a time of 49:32, but because of a quickly approaching soccer match for Rylie she couldn't stay to claim it.

The organizer of the race, B.I.G. Love Cancer Care, actually ended up making the effort and delivering Kristi's award to her during the week.

If there was one person who bemoaned all of the COVID-19 cancellations last year, it was Judith Albarran.

But this year, she and Christopher Branch got caught in a different "Catch 22".

Prior to Tunnel Light, they had signed up for a number of races in the winter and spring.  However, Boston made a September house call to them both in North Bend, Washington.

So, like hell were they cancelling what they had already paid for - and they were off to Dallas this past weekend to run the BMW Dallas Marathon 5K on Saturday, December 11 and the BMW Dallas Marathon on Sunday, December 12.

And both exercised the self discipline to dial it back for their "A" races at the Chevron Houston Marathon in January.

They ran the 5K on Saturday together in 27:28, while Chris finished the marathon in 3:56:02 and Judith had a still impressive 4:05:43 - all from just taking it easy.

Faith Craig was our only marathoner at the BCS Marathon, where she finished in 5:17:03.

Her Dad, Thomas Thomson, finished in 4:50:55 while fellow Volte friend Jonathan Weishuhn did so in 3:45:49.

The main event for us was the BCS Half Marathon with 15 runners.  (Jason Bodie and Stephanie Stevenson were scheduled to run, but were not able to start.)

Robert led us with a strong performance that netted himself a sweet PR!
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Robert and Roger King got the hit parade started with first and second place age group finishes of 1:26:28 and 1:27:30, respectively.  Both were new personal bests for the brothers.

The next duo to the finish were Darren Hadden and Robert Cardnell as they rolled through with times of 1:32:28 and 1:35:16.

Robert Cardnell made 1:35 look ridiculously easy.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Cardnell's effort was our third personal best of the morning.

Devin Cook and Jane Campbell both won hardware and set new PR's as they earned first and third place awards with their respective times of 1:36:02 and 1:42:22.

Jane Campbell looking pretty happy as she heads to the BCS Half Marathon finish line.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Kim White was our sixth PR and fifth age group award winner with his first place effort of 1:45-even.

Finishing his tenth consecutive BCS Marathon event (two marathons and eight half marathons) was Randy Harris, who came in from Uvalde.  He finished in 1:49:18.

Which was also the identical time that Julie Stevenson used to record a new personal best -- and finish second in her age group.

Christopher and Stephanie Reed continued their "Run Together" tour from Chicago to College Station and crossed the finish line in 1:50:29.

Kyley Hampton's running has been on fire recently as she bested her previous best half marathon time once again with a time of 1:53:46.

Auggie Campbell, Michael Gayle and Scott Haney rounded out our bunch with Auggie leading with a time of 1:54:17 while Michael and Scott followed in 2:02:04 and 2:05:26, respectively.

A good group of our friends ran the half marathon as well.

Zero Dark Thirty's Brandon Sager was third in his age group in 1:25:48.  He was right behind Robert King just before making the left-hand turn on to George Bush near the 10-mile marker.

Former Volte coach and Aggie grad Adrienne Langelier was fourth overall and first in her age group in 1:28:40.

C. Stephenson Lake was third in her age group in 1:39:14 while Sonia Dhodapkar and Mariela Rodriguez rounded out our friends' performances in 1:49:25 and 2:31:21, respectively.

Volte friend Jon Walk on Saturday ventured down to Houston to take part in the Terry Hershey parkrun 5K #81.  

Much like Run The Woodlands, parkrun is a free, timed race that's run every single Saturday (except this year for Christmas).

You can get a bar code at parkrun.us, which you can used to get a time at any one of 40 parkruns in the US and so many more internationally, if you travel.

It was Jon's sixth time to run at Terry Hershey and it was his eighth different parkrun, which includes The Woodlands Waterway that hasn't returned to operation yet.

Just A Normal Volte Opening Week of December: From 1K to 100 Miles

It's the most wonderful time of the year

Oh, yes, we're still racing

And everyone's running around with good cheer

It's the most wonderful time of the year

You know what they say, "Where's there a runner, there's a race."  

Ok, well, at least two runners.  

Almost like where Matthew 18:20 says, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

We seem to even perform better in a group, and with our friends.

Yes, Volte athletes - and friends - are still racing in December, and performing very nicely we might add.

Our folks put on a heck of a show at the Brazos Bend Trail Run in Brazos Bend State Park in Needville on Saturday, December 4 (and for two of the Murillos, Sunday, December 5).

Luis Murillo was first overall at the half marathon distance in 1:36:13.

Holly Benson and her friend from Katy, Heather Ziembo, finished together in the marathon in 4:57:15, where Heather took home the third overall award while Holly was first in her age group.

Well done, ladies, at Brazos Bend Marathon!
(Photo courtesy of Holly Benson)

Two of our longtime Woodlands Fit friends Randy Bradley and Michael Smith competed in the 50-mile race.

Randy was first across the line in 15:29:06 while Michael followed in 16:04:01.

Then, Juan and Jose Murillo topped off the day off in Fort Bend County with a pair of 100-mile finishes, finishing within 20 seconds of each other in 28 hours, 19 minutes and 16 seconds.  

(We'll let you ask them which one finished 20 seconds later officially!)

Going just a little shorter distance was the Park family at the Tavola Reindeer Run in New Caney.

Father and son, Jerritt and Brayden Park, both took home a second place age group award in the 5K with Brayden winning the family competition with a 19-minute flat while Dad posted an impressive 19:56 effort.

Daughter and sister Riley Park grinded out a 7:30 Tavola Reindeer Run 1K that was really more like 2K said Dad.

And Volte friend Dr. John Slate won his age group in the 5K in 24:12.

Professionally, we'd love to offer a shout out to John as he recently chaired the committee of his 100th doctoral student at Sam Houston State University to graduate.

In San Antonio the next morning, Sunday, December 5, Bill and Dana-Sue Crews ran the Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Half Marathon.

Bill finished in 1:48:48, while Dana-Sue kept it under two in 1:58:35.

One of the success stories of the year was meted out by our friend and former Remission Run committee member Lisa Henthorn.

She worked diligently to train for the half marathon and lost a significant amount of weight and celebrated the birthdays of her sons, Zachary and Tyler.

While Zachary ran to his own half marathon time of 1:36:19, Tyler ran with his Mom the entire way as they finished in 2:59:50.

Our Woodlands Fit friend Mariela Rodriguez stopped the clock somewhere in between with a mark of 2:39:33.

The last running of The Woodlands Running Club Sunday Night 5K for 2021 took place on Sunday, December 5, to a small field of five athletes.

Jerritt Park led all runners in 21:42 while Chloe Kramer - having some time off between high school cross country and track seasons - was second overall and the first female in 25:37.

Strong and steady effort from Chloe Kramer, the daughter of our Mayra Caamano.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Dwyer)

Our good friends from the Seven Hills Running Club also participated with David Keithley finishing in 26:35 and Ken Johnson doing well in 44:43.  

David's wife, Velvia, also ran with us.

Special thanks to Bill Dwyer for completing his 13th year of producing The Woodlands Running Club Sunday Night 5Ks up to 12 times a year for all of us.  Well done.

Volte friend Jon Walk picked up a Cajun double - back to "racing" after recovering from some left knee issues and a busy high school cross country announcing season - with a 32:59 finish in Dasher Dancer Prancer 5K in Carencro, Louisiana (just north of Lafayette) and a time of 1:07:45 in the Tiger 10K that finished on the field of LSU's Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.

He drew a pair of courses that were just slightly long - Saturday's race measured 3.23 miles while the last .2 miles on Sunday's race were closer to .4 miles.

Randy Harris' Legacy Results at BCS Marathon and Half Marathon

Congratulations are in order for our Randy Harris as he has completed the marathon or half marathon at every single BCS Marathon event ever held.

Here's a look at Randy's finishes:

2011 - 3:52:08 Marathon - 4 AG - 45-49

2012 - 3:50:49 Marathon - 11 AG - 45-49

2013 - 1:32:07 Half Marathon - 1 AG - 50-54

2014 - 1:37:19 Half Marathon - 6 AG - 50-54

2015 - 1:36:27 Half Marathon - 1 AG - 50-54

2016 - 1:39:04 Half Marathon - 5 AG - 50-54

2017 - 1:44:45 Half Marathon - 10 AG - 50-54

2018 - 1:39:42 Half Marathon - 2 AG - 55-59

2019 - 1:43:19 Half Marathon - 2 AG - 55-59

2020 - Event not held due to COVID-19

2021 - 1:49:18 Half Marathon - 9 AG - 55-59

Well done, Sir!  Thank you for representing Volte with class and excellence.