Garcia Places 2nd in 49er Classic 5,000

Eddie Garcia and Victor Pataky

ASICS Greenville Track Club ELITE's Eddie Garcia returned to completion following his 2:18:50 performance at the Chevron Houston Marathon in January and placed second in the 5,000 meters at the 49er Classic in Charlotte, NC. On a cooling Friday evening, with slight winds, Garcia circled the Charlotte University (UNCC) track 12.5 times before crossing the finish in second place with a time of 14:31.98. After starting near the back of the 29 runner field, Eddie worked his way up to the lead pack by 3000 meters. However Aaron Wier, the eventual winner, surged ahead after 3500 meters and opened a gap that he held for the win in 14:22:46. 

Garcia's ASICS GTC-ELITE teammate, Victor Pataky, ran with the lead pack for much of the race before finishing 5th with a time of 14:49.68. It was Pataky's first race on the track since joining the program in August of 2018. 

GTC-ELITE was established in 2012. The program produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and currently one "time-qualifier" for the 2020 Olympic marathon.  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, DorsiFlex and Synergy Performance (mental performance).  The club is a proud member of both the Road Runners Club of America and  USATF. ​