2023 Highlights
GreenvilleTrack Club-ELITE athletes competed in the following locations during 2022:
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JANUARY
- Jason Weitzel and Eddie Garcia placed second and third in the 44th GTC Run Downtown on a cold and brisk Saturday morning. The race was won by Greenville's James Quattlebaum, who is currently ranked first in the USATF South Carolina Road Race Rankings. Quattlebaum's time of 14:14 equals the record for the 5K event, which was set by former GTC-ELITE Austin Steagall in 2017 on a different course. Weitzel, the 2022 Run Downtown champion, who is ranked second in the SC Road Race Rankings, improved his time from 14:37 last year to 14:29. That is now the third fastest performance in race history. Garcia ran 14:40, which now ranks equal fifth in race history, equaling former GTC-ELITE's Adam Freudenthal's time from 2013.
- Jason Weitzel and Eddie Garcia finished first and second in the MGC Long Run 15K on a cold (32 degrees), but sunny Saturday morning in South Carolina's Capitol city of Columbia. The training partners led from the start and ran together for over half the race on a challenging, rolling route, in downtown Columbia. Due to the rolling terrain their mile splits varied significantly with a fastest of 4:36 and a slowest of 5:15 on the long uphill segments. Jason ran 45:53 (4:55 per mile) and won $500 for his victory and Eddie earned $250 for second with his time of 46:21 (4:58 per mile). Eddie had previously won this event the last time it was conducted (in 2020, pre-COVID-19) with a time of 46:32 on a different course.
- Jason Weitzel and Eddie Garcia placed 14th and 16th, respectively, in the Gate River Run in Jacksonville, FL, which hosted the USATF 15K Championships once again. On a warm (72 degrees at start) and very humid (88 percent) Saturday morning, the conditions put a damper on fast times. Weitzel ran 47:30 and Garcia 47:49, which was well off their personal bests of 45:34 and 45:53. The race starts and finishes near TIAA Bank Stadium, home of the Jacksonville Jaguars, and includes two crossings of the St. John's River. The second crossing climbs (and descends) the Hart Bridge, also known to runners as the "Green Monster" for its elevation and placement during the final third of the race.
- Jason Weitzel placed second in the United Community Bank Reedy River Run for the third consecutive year. On a stormy Saturday morning, the 10K race started on time at 7:15 am after a quick moving thunder storm moved over Greenville between 5:00 and 6:30 am. Once the starter's horn sounded, Jason ran with three-time race champion James Quattlebaum as they passed the first mile in 4:39 and reached 5K at 14:30. Quattlebaum pulled away over the second half of the race through Cleveland, Cancer Survivor's and Falls Parks. Weitzel finished alone in second with a time of 30:15. Mackenzie Lowe, ran 37:22 to place fourth among women. She previously placed 3rd in 2021 and 2nd in 2022.
- Jason Weitzel placed 26th overall in the Tartam Ottawa International Marathon on Sunday morning in Canada's capitol city. Running in his debut marathon, Weitzel's goal was to run under 2:18:00 to achieve a qualifying time for next February's USA Olympic Team Trials Marathon. He ran with his pace group for much of the race and passed the first three 5K segments in 16:23, 32:28 (10K) and 47:52 (15K) before hitting the half-marathon in just over 1:08:00. He covered the first 30K in 1:37:25 (a 2:16:55 pace) before experiencing intermittent cramps in his calves. Struggling to maintain a fluid stride, he slowed considerably over the final 8K before finishing with a time of 2:24:28.
