Mastandrea Wins 16th Edition of Red, White & Blue Shoes 5K

Jack took the lead from the gun and ran solo for the win.

Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Jack Mastandrea ran the first mile in 4:37 and then cruised to victory in the 16th running of the Red, White and Blue Shoes 5K with a winning time of 15:06. A sold-out field of 1200 runners toured the beautiful Furman University campus on a very hot (80-degrees) and humid July 4th morning to kick off the celebration of our nation's 250th birthday. The race is a fundraiser for the Furman University Cross Country/Track and Field program and was conducted by their staff and the Greenville Track Club. 

It was the seventh victory in this event by a GTC-ELITE athlete and fourth consecutive as Ryan Drew (2024 & 25) and Eduardo Garcia (2023) won in the previous three years. Mark Leininger won in 2016. On the women's side, Kimberly Ruck (now Mahoney) won in 2017 and Mackenzie Lowe in 2021. 

This was Jack's fifth competition of 2026, a year in which he has two personal bests so far and also placed fifth at the Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon in Duluth, MN. Next up is the USATF 8K Road Championships at the Crazy 8s Road Race in Kingsport, TN. 

​Greenville Track Club-ELITE was established in 2012 and is well into its second decade as a post-collegiate, Olympic-development program. The program developed and produced one participant for the 2024 Olympic Games marathon in Paris; 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; one qualifier and participant in the 2021 USATF Olympic Track & Field Trials in the 3000m Steeplechase in Eugene, OR;  three qualifiers for the 2024 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Orlando, FL and currently three for the 2028 Olympic Trials Marathon in St. Louis, MO. 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  produced the South Carolina Men's 2020 Long Distance Runner of the Year and recently had the top two ranked South Carolina road racers for 2024.

​The program is sponsored and supported by the 54-year-old Greenville Track Club, ASICS, Joy Real Estate (Adopt an Athlete partner), generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Endurance Ally Physical Therapy, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, the DorsiFlex (stretching device), the MOBO board (balance & mobility), LEVER Movement (treadmill body weight support),Omius (Cooling Systems) and BAKLINE (custom competition kits). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF.​