Eric van der Els, Ryan Ford, and Dan Schaffer made their long awaited ZAP debut at the US 5k Championships the day before the NYC Marathon. Since joining the team this summer all 3 have adjusted seamlessly to life in the mountains and their new teammates.
With their first few months of training going so well they were all excited to take to the streets of New York to race for the first time in their ZAP kit. Andrew Colley, fresh off his 46:47 10 Mile in October, stepped down in distance to join the rookie trio in NYC.
The race began quickly, with Hillary Bor – the US 10 Mile Champion a month prior – jumping to the front of the race. Through the opening kilometer Andrew was right on his heels with Eric, Dan, and Ryan tucked further back in the pack. As Bor kept the pressure on Andrew moved back into the chase pack, still flying through the mile under 4:20.
In his first race at that distance in years, Andrew led the ZAP team with a 7th place finish in a swift 13:41, only 1 second off his track 5,000m best from 2014. Closing hard behind him in 10th place was Eric, who ran 13:50 Ryan crossed stopped the clock at 13:54 to take 13th place. And Dan, who missed some training the prior week with illness, finished in 14:13 for 21st.
You can find full results for the race here.
Next up for all 4 athletes will be the Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving Day in Manchester, CT.