photo @ Michael Scott
Post Collegiate Highlights
5000m (track) - 14:41 8K (road) - 24:35 10K (road) - 31:14 Half-Marathon - 1:06:49 25K (road) - 1:19:52 Marathon - 2:17:23 |
Hometown: Zeeland, Michigan
Place of Birth: Zeeland, MI Date of Birth: 04.23.1992 High School: Zeeland East HS Alma Mater: Cedarville University Graduation Date: May, 2014 Major: Electrical Engineering College Coach: Paul Orchard Family: Wife - Jasmin, Children - Elly, Henry & Everet Collegiate Bests 1500m - 4:03.54 (2014) 3000m (indoor) - 8:39.24 (2014) 3000m Steeplechase - 9:07.02 (2014) 5000m (indoor) 14:59.24 (2014) 10,000m - 31:20.86 8K cross country - 25:14 (2013) 10K cross country - 31:59 (2013) |
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Joe Niemiec and wife Jasmine made the decision to uproot their young family (two young children and one on the way) in the summer of 2018. Joe's dream of qualifying for the 2020 USA Olympic Team Trials in the marathon seemed like a long shot, when they moved from Michigan to Greenville in October of 2018. Joe had never run an actual marathon, but had placed 13th in the 2018 USA 25K Championships. After adjusting to the new training program, which included focus on ancillary strength/mobility routines, Joe began to see progress. He won the 2019 Greenville News Run Downtown 5K and then ran a personal best at the TD Bank Reedy River Run 10K on a challenging course. He then ran a personal best for 25K at the 2019 USA 25K Championship with a time of 1:19:52, which was a good indicator. His debut at the marathon distance was not as successful as planned as he labored over the final 10 miles to finish in an unimpressive 2:26.46. However, that race challenged his sprit and laid the foundation for a final shot at qualifying in the Chevron Houston Marathon in January 2020. With a solid training macrocycle, Joe surprised almost everyone as he sliced over nine minutes from that Chicago Marathon debut. He ran an impressive 2:17:23 in Houston and placed 11th overall and finished as the second USA citizen. That qualified him for the USA Trials in Atlanta, GA on February 29th. Although not having the race he desired, Joe forced himself over the hilly course on a windy afternoon and finished 123rd with a time of 2:27:50. Joe accomplished his dream of qualifying and competing in the USA Olympic Team Trials Marathon during his brief time in Greenville. Since he and Jasmine are expecting their fourth child, Joe accepted an employment position in Florida where he will work at Eglin Air Force base using his engineering expertise.
Performances
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01.19.2019
04.20.2019 05.11.2019 07.04.2019 08.24.2019 10.13.2019 11.28.2019 01.19.2020 02.29.2020 |
Greenville News Run Downtown, Greenville , SC
TD Bank Reedy River Run, Greenville, SC Fifth Third Bank River Run, Grand Rapids, MI Peachtree Road Race, Atlanta, GA Eduard Michelin Memorial Run, Greenville, SC Bank of America Chicago Marathon, Chicago, IL Trees Greenville Turkey Day, Greenville, SC Chevron Houston Marathon, Houston, TX USA Olympic Trials Marathon, Atlanta, GA |
5K (road)
10K (road) 25K (road) 10K (road) 5K (road) Marathon 8K (road) Marathon Marathon |
14:53
31:14 1:19:52 32:41 14:59 2:26:46 24:35 2:17:23 2:27:50 |
1st
7th 14th 30th 2nd 106th 2nd 9th 123rd |
