ZAP swept the top 2 spots in both the men’s and women’s races at the Oskar Blues 4 Mile run in Brevard last weekend. Despite the cold and rainy conditions, Andrew Colley & Amanda Vestri cruised to individual wins while Eric van der Els and Annmarie Tuxbury took runner-up honors.
For Andrew and Annmarie it marked their first race since the Olympic Marathon Trials and showed that the strength from marathon training is carrying over well to the shorter distances.
For Eric the race represented the end of what we’ve been calling his “fall cross country season” – which is what it would have been in a college environment. But since coming off a 2023 marred by injury Eric used the winter months to build a strong aerobic base and run some road races before turning his attention to the track later this month.
And for Amanda, the race was a final last minute test to decide whether she was ready to run a track 10,000m this weekend in Los Angeles. (Spoiler alert, she passed with flying colors and you can read our preview of that track race here.)
Eric and Andrew were half of a 4-man pack that formed quickly after the start and passed the first mile in 4:41. The other 2 athletes made a small push at 1 mile and Andrew quickly covered it and carried it forward on his own, passing the 2nd mile in a quick 4:26. Eric laid back after the initial move and then moved into 2nd place by the time he hit the 2 mile marker.
Andrew slowed slightly in a hillier 3rd mile, running 4:46, before slamming the final mile in 4:14 en route to a 30 second win and finishing time of 18:04. Eric cruised home in 2nd place in 18:36, using a strong final mile to put 13 seconds between himself and 3rd.
On the women’s side, Amanda went to the front early and never looked back, winning the race in a time of 20:33. Annmarie finished comfortably in 2nd place with her time of 22:01.
You can find full results here.