Garcia Places 12th in Pan American Games Marathon

Eduardo Garcia, center, running to 12th place finish in Pan American Games Marathon.

ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Eduardo Garcia ran 2:19:12 to place 12th in the Pan American Games Marathon in Lima, Peru on Saturday. Garcia represented the US Virgin Islands on a cloud-covered morning with temperatures in the low 60s (F) and high humidity in the coastal city with a population of over 10 million people. 

Garcia ran at the back of the pack through 5K in 16:33 and 10K in 32:55 (just under 2:19:00 pace). The leaders then increased the pace and gapped Eddie by 30 seconds over the next 5K segment as he passed 15K in 49:09. Garcia continued to follow the increasingly faster pace and passed the half-marathon marker at 1:07:22 (2:14:44 pace). Due to that increase in pace from 10K to 21K, Garcia slowed over the second half (1:11:50), but still finished only 22 seconds slower than his qualifying time. 

GTC-ELITE was established in 2012. The program produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and one qualifier for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in. Lima, Peru. The post-collegiate, Olympic development program is sponsored by ASICS, the 47-year-old Greenville Track Club, ScanSource, Joy Real Estate,   generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Boston Bill Sunglasses, 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, DorsiFlex and Synergy Performance (mental performance).  The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and  USATF.