Hot air balloon crew volunteers assist out-of-town pilots at the Plano Balloon Festival. Zoe White is a local resident that signed up in 2019 and was assigned to help with Peg Leg Pete the Pirate Parrot hot air balloon. Zoe is a Plano Senior High School graduate and enjoys sharing photography on her Instagram account SweetAzurePhotos.
Continue reading “ZOE WHITE CREWS FOR PEG LEG PETE THE PIRATE PARROT”Tag: plano balloon
REGISTRATION IS OPEN FOR 2020 PBF RACES
It’s time to aim high for 2020 and soar through the 10 year anniversary of running at the InTouch Credit Union Plano Balloon Festival! Now is the time to get in early and save on race registration for all distances. Sign-up now before these prices fly away. You may select to have your race packet mailed to you during registration for an additional fee of $20.
Sky High Challenge (5K & Half Marathon): $75.00
Elevate Challenge (5K & 10K): $45.00
Half Marathon: $60.00
10K: $30.00
5K & 1K : $20.00
HALF MARATHON VOLUNTEERS SET THE PACE
The Plano Balloon Festival Half Marathon is known for the custom finisher medals and hot air balloons, but has also received a tremendous amount of respect for the volunteers who help set the pace for other runners. The pace team for the 2019 race consists of 66 members of the Craig Ranch Running Club that serve as a pacer, floater or sweeper. Find out more about this dedicated group by visiting their Facebook page.
Pace 1:30 Karl Huchthausen, Keith Pierce, Brent Woodle
Pace 1:35 Rachel Warner, Kiley Couch, Jeffrey Christian
Pace 1:40 Kevin Newton, Ray Nichols, Raquel Jimenez
Pace 1:45 Ray Liberatore, Bob Smeby, Zach Shirely
Pace 1:50 Danielle Walker, Brian Hinton, Tuan Nguyen
Pace 1:55 Marcos Vargas, Scott Manis, Rishi Goel
Pace 2:00 Mark Trayer, Aiming Herrington, Meredith Cotton
Pace 2:05 Samantha Sells, Marissa Sifuentes, Jourdan Esquenazi
Pace 2:10 Ankush Bhatia, Jon Cotton, Jessie Anderson
Pace 2:15 John Lawson, Manzoor Mohideen, Tracy Boyd
Pace 2:20 Tim Montano, Sarah Snyder, Ana Fernandez
Pace 2:25 Ed Steinkamp, Glenn Robertson, Melody Ongayo
Pace 2:30 Marissa Zoda, Kristin Vega, Kathy Williams
Pace 2:35 Michael Hutchison, Julia Xia, Michelle Gallagher
Pace 2:40 Victor Salazar, Sandra Trevino, George Villareal
Pace 2:45 Kylar Anderson, Rosalind Buchalski, Mona Sepulevda
Pace 2:50 Bonita Rogers, Johanna Chi, Shana Williams
Pace 2:55 Heather Hutchison, Lynda Tilley, Shilpi Adya
Pace 3:00 Natanja Hunter, Monica Sanders, Susan Forsvall
Pace 3:30 Michelle Ranzer, Alison Moore, Blanca Garcia
Floaters: James Allen, Janice Couch, Jeanette Caballero-Bell, Joe Perez, and Parvinder Ahlawat
Use discount code CRRC to receive 15% off runner registration. Online registration for the Half Marathon closes at 12pm (Noon) on Saturday, September 21, 2019. There is no race day registration available. View the 2019 race shirts and medals that were revealed earlier this summer.
RUNNER REGISTRATION INCREASES AUGUST 31
Runner registration increases at midnight on August 31st for the Plano Balloon Festival Half Marathon, Sky High Challenge, Elevate Challenge, 10K, 5K and 1K run/walk! All registration must be completed online since race day sign-up is not available.
Friday, September 20, 2019 at Noon the online registration closes for the Sky High Challenge, Elevate Challenge, 5K, and 1K. Saturday, September 21, 2019 at Noon the Half Marathon and 10K online registration closes. All races are subject to being closed earlier if the event becomes sold out.
FREE HALF MARATHON TRAINING WITH CRAIG RANCH RUNNING CLUB
Sunday, June 30 the Craig Ranch Running Club invites runners to come out at 6:15 a.m. to the 2019 Kick-Off of a free 12 week half marathon training program. This is open to the public and a great way to get ready for the Plano Balloon Festival Half Marathon and meet the pace team.
The training schedule indicates the meet-up locations that include Craig Ranch Fitness in McKinney on Sunday, Monday and Thursday, and Lawler Middle School in Frisco on Wednesday.
The Plano Balloon Festival Half Marathon is Sunday, September 22, 2019 and all runners receive a shirt, custom finisher medal, parking pass, and tickets to the InTouch Credit Union Plano Balloon Festival that is proudly celebrating 40 Years of Ballooning!
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PBF RACES UNVEILS 5K AND 1K FINISHER MEDALS
We’re marching into the six month countdown for the Plano Balloon Festival Races with the unveiling of the 1K and 5K finisher medals! The 9th Annual PBF Races include custom finisher medals for each distance that reflect a hot air balloon for each year.
These three inch custom medals were designed by Running Awards & Apparel and have unique features on each one. The 1K finisher medal is blue with 11 colors and jump ring attachment to the satin printed ribbon.
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TWENTY-YEAR VOLUNTEER REMEMBERS THE BEST OF THE PLANO BALLOON FESTIVAL
In 1998, a hot air balloon came to rest on a quiet street in Murphy, TX. Trevor Laswell was only seven years old and this captured his attention. He expressed his interest in wanting to get involved with ballooning to the pilot, who referred him to crew training at the Plano balloon festival. That same year, Laswell took his first ride in a balloon with Suzanne and Don Smith in their balloon Hours Stars. Laswell’s father, Steve Laswell, was the festival’s volunteer coordinator at the time helped get the young Laswell involved.
Laswell has been involved with the Plano Balloon Festival for 20 years, most recently serving on the balloon operations team, which ensures the safety of the pilots and spectators and assists with all the details of the actual balloons. He’s come a long way since he was seven. Continue reading “TWENTY-YEAR VOLUNTEER REMEMBERS THE BEST OF THE PLANO BALLOON FESTIVAL”
Calabrette Crew Pilots Big Red Balloons
From the moment Joe and Sue Calabrette first saw a hot air balloon flying over the Dallas skyline in 1979, they were hooked. Living in Plano at the time, Joe bought a flight for Sue as a birthday present.
Upon arrival at the field, Joe realized the flight was for two people, and they both hopped aboard. Their first flight lasted two hours and flew them from Mesquite to Duncanville, over dozens of fields and several airports. Not long after, Joe began training for his pilot’s license with the owner of the balloon. He became a commercial pilot in order to train his wife and take others up in their first balloon, the Big Red.
They have had three balloons since they began flying, all red balloons with blue accents. Their newest balloon, Big Red Again, is a combination of the first two designs and names. Three is an impressively low number of balloons for how often they fly, which they attribute to the tremendous care of each hot air balloon.
Not long after becoming balloonists, Joe and Sue helped start the Plano Ballooning Association. They have been a part of the Plano Balloon Festival since its inception, acting as liaisons to the ballooning club. They acted as the co-chairmen for the second Plano Balloon Festival in 1981 and have served as the Balloonmeister several times. The Balloonmeister is the unofficial captain of any ballooning event, overseeing the other balloonists and ensuring their safety. They have the final say in whether the balloons can fly. For example, if this year’s Festival is too windy or the conditions are poor for flying or landing, the Balloonmeister may delay the launch to ensure the safety of the pilots and crew.
In 1996 Joe and Sue moved to California, taking their balloon with them. Unlike Texas, Californian balloonists can only fly in the morning, before the winds get too high. Generally, balloonists avoid flying in wind speeds of over 7 mph.
One of their most harrowing flying experiences took place in Morgan Hill, California. Joe had gone up with a family friend and her elderly aunt. They were already up in the air when Tule Fog, ground fog mostly seen in California’s Great Central Valley, gathered underneath them. The fog was so dense they could see the reflection of their balloon in the fog below, and nothing of the ground.
Unable to see where to land, Joe descended slowly, looking for trees and other obstacles. He finally found the parking lot of the reservoir, where he was able to land on the steep hill surrounding the area. The family friend jumped out and tied the balloon to a nearby boulder before the balloon could take off again. When Sue and the rest of their ground crew found them, they were tied to the rock and being blown in the wind.
American Airlines Center
They have returned to Plano in recent years and have continued to attend the InTouch Credit Union Plano Balloon Festival, missing fewer than five since its inception. While they no longer fly people commercially, they enjoy flying both locally and nationally and can often be seen over the Plano skyline in their gorgeous red balloon.
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