Drew Places Second at Governor's Cup Main Street Mile in Columbia, SC

Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Ryan Drew ran 4:09 to place second overall (by only one second) in this year's Governor's Cup Main Street Mile in downtown Columbia, SC on Friday evening. Ryan ran among the front pack as it made the 180-degree turnaround at halfway. Greenville's Coen Roberts led there in 1:57. As the leaders ran back up the slight incline to the finish and into a headwind, eventual winner Ali Abdilmana and Drew passed Roberts with less than 200 meters remaining. Drew then made an attempt to overtake Abdilmana, but the Ethiopian held him off to win in 4:08. The winner earned a $500 check, while Drew received $400 for his effort and Roberts $300. Abdimana, who was the 2024 winner of the prestigious Cooper River Bridge Run 10K and placed third in that race last weekend, currently trains in Chapel Hill, NC.  

Greenville Track Club-ELITE was established in 2012 and is well into its second decade as a post-collegiate, Olympic-development program. The program developed and produced one participant for the 2024 Olympic Games marathon in Paris; four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles; one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in Lima, Peru; three qualifiers/two participants for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta, GA; one qualifier and participant in the 2021 USATF Olympic Track & Field Trials in the 3000m Steeplechase in Eugene, OR; and three qualifiers for the 2024 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Orlando, FL. The program's runners set four South Carolina State road race records in 2020 (5K, 15K and Half Marathon--twice) and three (15K, 10-Mile and 20K) in 2021. GTC-ELITE  produced the South Carolina Men's 2020 Long Distance Runner of the Year and recently had the top two ranked South Carolina road racers for 2024.

​The program is sponsored and supported by the 53-year-old Greenville Track Club, ASICS, Joy Real Estate (Adopt an Athlete partner), generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, the DorsiFlex (stretching device), the MOBO board (balance & mobility) and LEVER Movement (treadmill body weight support). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF.​