Garcia Breaks His South Carolina State Record by 53 seconds at the Mortgage Network Half Marathon.

Garcia (striped singlet) photo: Franklin Keathley.

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ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Eddie Garcia and Victor Pataky both ran to huge personal bests in the initial Mortgage Network Half Marathon in Hardeeville, SC. On a crisp, perfect for running, Sunday morning Garcia covered the flat, three-loop course in a new South Carolina State resident record of 1:04:32. That was 53 seconds faster than the 1:05:25 he ran in Columbia back in February before COVID-19 basically shut down road racing in the state. His time earned him eighth in a deep field of elite men and $300. 

Pataky ran 1:07:05, which knocked 64 seconds his 1:08:09 as he placed 17th. ASICS GTC-ELITE alum Joe Niemiec also lowered his personal best from 1:06:49 to 1:05:48 in placing 13th. Niemiec moved from Greenville, SC to Florida for a new job back in June. 

The first time event was won by former Univeristy of Michigan standout and 2018 NCAA 10,000m champion Ben Flanagan (Canada) of Reebok Boston, who ran 1:03:17 and was followed by ON ZAP Endurance's Matt McClintock (1:03:38). Kenya's Athanos Kioko, who led for almost 10 miles, placed third in 1:03:47. Of the 40 male finishers, 26 ran sub 1:08 or better.

Eddie Garcia. photo: Franklin Keathley.

Victor Pataky. photo: Franklin Keathley.

In the women's race, which started 10 minutes after the men's, ASICS GTC-ELITE's Mackenzie Lowe ran her first race in over 13 months. After taking time off from running due to a foot injury, she only joined the program and began training in late August. She placed 18th with a time of 1:20:49. ​

Garcia (middle) discussing the race and state record.

GTC-ELITE was established in 2012. The program produced 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 and three qualifiers/two participants for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta, GA.  The post-collegiate, Olympic development program is sponsored by ASICS, the 48-year-old Greenville Track Club, Joy Real Estate, the Borch Foundation, generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, Stryd Running, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, the DorsiFlex (stretching device) and the MOBO board.  The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and  USATF.​