Garcia Suffers Tough Day in Boston

Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Eddie Garcia ran his debut BAA (Boston) Marathon on a damp Patriots Day in the deepest field of elite runners in race history. Conditions at the 9:37 am start were 49F/9C with 95% humidity and damp road surfaces. Eddie, whose most recent marathon was the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, OR in July, started conservatively as he followed his race plan and passed the first 5K in 16:12 and 10K in 32:29 (sub-2:17 pace). After covering 15K in 48:57, he passed 20K in 1:05:25 and halfway (21.1K) at 1:09:01. At 25K his split was 1:22:06, still just under 2:18:30 pace. That pace was close to plan as the strategy was to conserve energy on the downhill first half, cover the hilly section of Heartbreak Hill (actually a series of hills) and finish the final 10K strong. 

However, sometimes things don't go as planned, and Eddie ran into trouble on the hills. "I had a tough one today," he explained soon after finishing. "My legs did not respond well to the hills in the second half. I had to go to the medical tent at mile 24 as my hamstring was cramping. They assessed my condition said it was okay to keep moving, so I drank some more fluids and jogged to the finish."

Not wanting to DNF (Did Not Finish), Eddie gutted it out to cross the final timing mat at 2:39:10. 

Even the world's greatest marathoner has an off day as Eliud Kipchoge was dropped in the hills and finished sixth in 2:09:23--the slowest time in his illustrious career, which includes two Olympic Marathon Gold Medals, the current world record and the only human to break two hours for the distance. 

Eddie and his wife Sydney.

Prepping Fuel/Hydration Bottles

Greenville Track Club-ELITE was established in 2012 and is entering 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.​