By Rick Platt
What was once a runaway has become a friendly but competitive race for supremacy for the title of fastest women's Masters (ages 40-and-over) roadracer in Williamsburg, as Sherry Volk has joined Carol Talley at the top.
Last year Talley easily won the Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix title for Masters women, improving during the year from 25:07 at April's Queens Lake 5K to 21:12 at October's William and Mary Homecoming 5K.
This year Talley was a perfect four for four as the Masters winner through June, but Volk, whose first 5K was a 22:09 at Queens Lake (to Talley's 21:06) closed the gap to 23 seconds by Mental Health (21:34 vs. 21:11) and to 13 seconds at the Jaycees 5.3 Miler (38:32 vs. 38:19).
Volk beat Talley for the first time at the Vineyards 5K in August with a 21:10 to Talley's 21:16. Talley bounced back at the longer New Quarter Park 6K (cross country) two weeks later, running 26:13 (third overall) to Volk's 26:35 (fourth overall). Saturday both ran personal records, a 20:42 for Volk and a 20:53 for Talley, at the fourth annual Run for Hospice 5K at Ford's Colony.
"It's very friendly. It's fun to have rivalries," said Volk. "It makes all people involved better." Talley even suggested after the Hospice race that Volk would be even faster if she tried racing flats. Those lightweight shoes could help Volk to her next goal. "That's a dream of mine, to break 20 minutes. I've pretty much made the conversation from sprinting."
Volk's running background started as a sprinter for and captain of the track team at Radnor High School in the western Philadelphia suburbs. Volk excelled at the 100-yard dash (PR of 11.3), 220 yards (25.6) and the quarter mile in relays (60 seconds). A stress fracture kept her from walking on to the track team at Penn State University, where she majored in electrical engineering.
While an engineer for Texas Instruments in Dallas, Volk ran a few 400 meters for the corporate track team relays in California. Off to graduate school and a degree in management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then while working in marketing for software consulting companies, Volk ran mostly for fitness, with just two races, a women's 10K in Boston in 1987 and the Manufacturers Hanover Corporate Road Race in 1990.
Along with husband Paul and son Michael (born in 1994, now age 6), Volk moved to Governor's Land and Williamsburg in the summer of 1997, and she continued running occasionally, just for fitness. After second son Timothy was born in January, 2000, Volk decided to "get fit for life," and started training that summer. Her goal was to run all the CRR Grand Prix races for 2001, the first of which conveniently came just two weeks after her 40th birthday on March 11.
Training five days a week on the roads and trails of Governor's Land, Volk is currently running 15-20 miles per week (much of it pushing a baby stroller), fairly low mileage for a runner that fast. Just four weeks ago Volk started doing the weekly CRR Wednesday afternoon interval sessions at Barksdale Field.
Andre Smith, 28, of Hayes and Alison Holinka, 22, of Williamsburg were the overall winners Saturday in the Run for Hospice 5K. Both are leading the Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix for 2001.
Smith ran a 16:23 to win by 20 seconds over William and Mary senior Marc Landry, 21 (16:43), with Rick Platt, 51, of Williamsburg third in 17:25. Smith, who has three CRR wins this year, now leads the Grand Prix with 58 points through seven of nine races, followed by Platt (39), Daniel Shaye-Pickell of Williamsburg (32) and Michael Mann of Hampton (28). Shaye-Pickell was fourth overall Saturday (17:28).
In the women's race Holinka ran a 17:40 to break the women's course record by over two minutes. The previous record was 19:48 by Linda Kidder of Williamsburg in 1998. Holinka won by exactly two minutes over Gina Bohlmann, 37, of Williamsburg (19:40), with Lindsay Kent, 11, of Yorktown third in 20:09. Holinka, who has won six CRR races in 2001, leads the Grand Prix with 60 points, followed by Bohlmann (51), Talley of Williamsburg (41) and Kent (34).
Hospice age group records were broken by Marc Landry (men 20-24, 16:43), Andre Smith (25-29, 16:23), Lindsay Kent (women 14-and-under, 20:09), Alison Holinka (20-24, 17:40), Lisa Holle (30-34, 20:47), Gina Bohlmann (35-39, 19:40), Carol Talley (45-49, 20:53), Joan Coven (60-64, 22:48), Nancy Patron (65-69, 26:38) and Essie Welch (70-74, 50:31). Both walk records were broken, by Harry Watson of Suffolk (men, 27:29) and Linda Kidder of Williamsburg (women, 29:42).
Coven's 22:48 was an all-time CRR record for the women's 60-64 age group, breaking her own previous mark of 23:15 from August's Vineyards of Williamsburg 5K.
Holinka had planned on running the Great Cow Harbor 10K on Long Island last weekend, but that international-caliber race was cancelled, due to the travel problems into New York City (Holinka had planned on driving). Bohlmann, a flight attendant for U.S. Airways, was stranded in West Virginia, but drove a rental car to make it back to Williamsburg in time for the Grand Prix race.
** Age Group Record (5-year age divisions) Men Overall **1. Andre Smith, 28 Hayes 16:23 [race record 15:51 by Rob Hinkle, 36, Williamsburg, in 2000] **2. Marc Landry, 21 Williamsburg 16:43 3. Rick Platt, 51 Williamsburg 17:25 Women Overall **1. Alison Holinka, 22 Williamsburg 17:40 [new race record, old record 19:48 by Linda Kidder, 41, Williamsburg, in 1998] **2. Gina Bohlmann, 37 Williamsburg 19:40 **3. Lindsay Kent, 11 Yorktown 20:09 Men 14-and-under 1. Josh Williams, 8 Yorktown 30:39 Men 15-19 1. Joshua Chapman, 16 Hampton 18:51 2. David Mellor, 18 Williamsburg 19:02 3. Craig Charley, 18 Afton 20:46 Men 20-24 1. Anand Dash, 22 Williamsburg 17:36 2. Derek Bright, 24 Williamsburg 17:39 Men 25-29 1. Brice Dille, 26 Newport News 19:38 2. Michael Ferreira, 29 Williamsburg 20:41 3. Gregory Doell, 27 Williamsburg 21:56 Men 30-34 1. Daniel Shaye-Pickell, 32 Williamsburg 17:28 2. Steven Kean, 31 Williamsburg 23:21 Men 35-39 1. Rob Vance, 36 Grafton 19:18 2. Clay Lowe, 39 Williamsburg 19:38 3. Allen Whitehead, 35 Williamsburg 23:21 Men 40-44 1. Ned Berg, 42 Lee Hall 17:38 2. Jim Reyher, 44 Williamsburg 20:37 3. Tim Campbell, 40 Grafton 21:54 Men 45-49 1. Joseph Ryan, 46 Richmond 18:36 2. William Murray, 45 Williamsburg 19:29 3. Steve Chantry, 46 Williamsburg 20:24 Men 50-54 1. Dale Abrahamson, 52 Yorktown 19:11 2. Robert Wilson, 54 Toano 19:30 3. Doug Charley, 50 Afton 22:28 Men 55-59 1. Randy Hawthorne, 56 Williamsburg 22:39 2. Ed Sadowski, 59 Williamsburg 23:44 3. Roger Ticcomi, 59 Williamsburg 28:53 Men 60-64 1. Thomas Hassler, 64 Williamsburg 24:46 2. Paul Sharp, 60 North 25:21 3. Jorge Ramirez, 62 Williamsburg 25:44 Men 65-and-over 1. Jerry Meyers, 66 Hampton 27:18 2. Samuel Stephens, 72 Richmond 48:53 Men Walk **1. Harry Watson, 60 Suffolk 27:29 2. George Fenigsohn, 53 Poquoson 28:33 3. Patrick Molnar, 57 Virginia Beach 31:26 4. John Hort, 65 Newport News 40:26 5. Eric Fielding, 38 Fredericksburg 43:06 Women 19-and-under 1. Sarah Chapman, 14 Hampton 22:44 2. Monika Henn, 13 Williamsburg 22:58 3. Megan Williams, 13 Yorktown 33:53 Women 20-24 1. Kristin Harman, 21 Newport News 27:54 2. Sula Polk, 24 Williamsburg 36:28 Women 25-29 1. Wendy Vogan, 25 Williamsburg 22:02 2. Marybeth Michaels, 27 Williamsburg 24:28 3. Rachel Koob, 29 Williamsburg 26:35 Women 30-34 **1. Lisa Holle, 31 Williamsburg 20:47 2. Phyllis Maston, 31 Williamsburg 23:07 3. Suzan Ramirez-Lowe, 33 Williamsburg 26:21 Women 35-39 1. Carol Weise, 37 Williamsburg 21:00 2. Deidre Bucci, 37 Williamsburg 23:26 3. Cynthia Freeman, 39 Williamsburg 23:59 Women 40-44 1. Sherry Volk, 40 Williamsburg 20:42 2. Cindy Stevens, 43 Williamsburg 26:56 3. Joreen Capone, 43 Williamsburg 29:08 Women 45-49 **1. Carol Talley, 46 Williamsburg 20:53 2. Shirley Loftus, 49 Afton 25:40 3. Gale Gendron, 46 Newport News 28:22 Women 50-54 1. Brenda Mitchell, 51 Williamsburg 24:17 2. Diane Vester, 54 Williamsburg 30:34 3. Donna Hanson, 54 Yorktown 45:21 Women 55-59 1. Barbara Ivey, 55 Hampton 23:42 2. Joan Sullivan-Taubman, 56 Williamsburg 44:32 3. Phyllis Staples, 57 Williamsburg 44:34 Women 60-and-over **1. Joan Coven, 60 Williamsburg 22:48 **2. Nancy Patron, 65 Williamsburg 26:38 3. Pauline Ely, 62 Hampton 29:17 Women Walk **1. Linda Kidder, 44 Williamsburg 29:42 2. Karen Schenck, 47 Williamsburg 32:44 3. Bobby Silvey, 55 Williamsburg 39:36 4. Allyson Harris, 51 Williamsburg 40:25 5. Mary Inman, 53 Williamsburg 44:03 Postal Employee Male 1. Norman Tessier, 49 Williamsburg 22:14 2. Samuel Stephens, 72 Richmond 48:53 Postal Employee Female 1. Deidre Bucci, 37 Williamsburg 23:26 2. Shirley Loftus, 49 Afton 25:40 3. Jackie Foley, 40 Williamsburg 29:54
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