Garcia Wins Zoom Through the Zoo 5K

Eddie Garcia, who rejoined ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE this month, won the Zoom Through the Zoo 5K on a clear, but chilly, Saturday morning in Greenville, SC. Eddie recently returned to training following a bout with COVID-19 after competing in the World Championship marathon last summer. He used the race to test his current fitness level as he begins his preparation for the 2023 BAA Boston Marathon. He ran about 5:00 per mile pace until the final mile which wound through the Greenville Zoo. 

Eddie joined ASICS GTC-ELITE in March of 2018 and improved his times, including a then-personal best of 2:18:50 at the 2019 Houston Tenneco Marathon. He was named South Carolina Long Distance Runner of the Year in 2020 after setting SC State records at the Half Marathon distance twice. He also placed 12th in 2019 Pan American Games Marathon (2:19:12) in Lima, Peru.

He represented ASICS GTC-ELITE until July 2021, when he resigned to devote more time for his upcoming wedding to his now wife, Sydney. He then ran for McKirdy Trained until his recent decision to rejoin his former program. In late 2021, Eddie ran a personal best of 2:17:45 at the California International Marathon and then represented the US Virgin Islands over that distance at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, OR. 

ASICS Greenville Track Club-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, 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. ASICS GTC-ELITE also produced the South Carolina Men's 2020 Long Distance Runner of the Year. 

​The post-collegiate, Olympic development program is sponsored by ASICS, the 50-year-old Greenville Track Club, Joy Real Estate (Adopt an Athlete partner), The Borch Foundation, 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, Stryd Running, 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.​