Garcia Places 12th at USA 20K Championships in New Haven, CT

Photo by Cloe Poisson/Special to the Courant

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On a sunny and warm Labor Day morning, Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Eduardo (Eddie) Garcia ran to a 12th place finish in the USATF 20K Road Championships in New Haven, CT. With a temperature of 72 degrees and 90% humidity at the 8:30 am race start, the conditions continued to become warmer as the mercury rose to 80 degrees by the time the elite runners crossed the finish line. It was the 46th edition of the Faxon Law New Haven Road Race, which has become the home for the USATF 20K Championships over the past years. 

Eddie and teammate Jason Weitzel started out at the back of the lead group of elite men and passed the first mile in a quick 4:38. Defending champion Connor Mantz (4:35) forced the pace from the front, but that early pace was not sustainable under the weather conditions. Mantz eventually placed a very close second to former BYU teammate and current training partner Clayton Young as both crossed the finish virtually together (59:15). 

​Garcia averaged 3:07 per kilometer (5:01 per mile) while his training partner Weitzel experienced a difficult race and finished in 22nd place with a time of 1:03:55. Both athletes are scheduled to compete in the USATF 10K Championships at the Great Cow Harbor Run in Northport, NY on September 23. 

Eddie Garcia and Jason Weitzel

Pre-race prep. (photo: Cloe Poisson/Special to the Courant)

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Greenville Track Club-ELITE was established in 2012 and is in its second decade as a post-collegiate, Olympic-development program. 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, three qualifiers/two participants for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta, GA and one qualifier and participant in the 2021 USATF Olympic Track & Field Trials in the 3000m Steeplechase. 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 also produced the South Carolina Men's 2020 Long Distance Runner of the Year. 

​The program is sponsored and supported by the 51-year-old Greenville Track Club, ASICS, Joy Real Estate (Adopt an Athlete partner), generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, UCAN energy products, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, the DorsiFlex (stretching device), the MOBO board (balance & mobility), On Pace Wellness (nutrition coaching) 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.​