ZAP-Reebok athlete Andrew Colley highlighted the first big racing weekend of the fall with his 10th place finish at the US 10 Mile Championships. Colley and teammate Matt McClintock were in the Minneapolis / Saint Paul for the Twin Cities 10 Miler, which served as this year’s championship. And for Colley, his 10th place finish was his 6th time in the top 10 of a major US road race this year.
In the opening stages of the race Colley took up a place in a large chase pack. He remained patient over the first 5 miles of the race, but moved into 4th place to take control of the chase pack at 6 miles. Colley strung out the group over the toughest climbs of the day, reducing the pack to 7 athletes by the 8 mile mark. He would go on to finish 10th in 47:36, just 13 seconds behind 4th place. McClintock, finished less than a minute behind in 48:32 for 17th place. Next up for Colley will be the Valencia Half Marathon in Spain on October 28th. McClintock will be back in action next month at the Monterey Bay Half Marathon before contesting the first marathon of his career at the Cal International Marathon December 2nd.
Also in action over the weekend were Johnny Crain and ZAP training partner Pardon Ndhlovu at the Chicago Marathon, and Nicole DiMercurio at the Rock n’ Roll San Jose Half Marathon. DiMercurio finished on the podium in San Jose, with her 1:16:31 good enough for 3rd place. In Chicago, Crain and Ndhlovu executed their race plans well through the first half of the race but both slowed a bit over the 2nd half, falling a little short of their goals on the rain soaked course. Ndhlovu finished 23rd in 2:18:49 and Crain was 26th in 2:21:15. It was great seeing so many people after the race at the ZAP get together, thank you for joining us and congratulations to everyone who raced!