Steagall and Ruck Win 40th TD Bank Reedy River Run and RRCA South Carolina 10K Championships

Austin Steagall. Photo: Bart Boatright, Greenville News

Kimberly Ruck. Photo: Bart Boatright, Greenville News

ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE athletes Austin Steagall and Kimberly Ruck both ran to impressive victories in the 40th anniversary of the TD Bank Reedy River Run 10K in their current hometown of Greenville, SC. With their victories they are both the 2017 Road Runners Club of America South Carolina State 10K Champions.

On a beautiful spring morning Steagall ran conservatively with the lead pack during the first 4K as they led the "sold out" field of 1500 runners over the historically challenging course. He then went to the front for the winding trek through Cleveland Park and increased his margin over the mostly uphill final kilometer. Steagall finished with a time of 30:31 to earn $1000 and added an additional $200 for being the first South Carolina resident. He was followed by his teammate, Ryan Root, who ran a fine 30:48 to earn a total of $800 ($700 for second and $100 for second South Carolina resident). 

​Ruck, who has finished third in this race twice and fifth once, finally won the biggest race in her hometown. Back in January, she had won The Greenville News Run Downtown 5K for the fourth time in five years. That was nice, but winning Reedy has been her goal for sometime. On a warmish morning, she took an early lead and was never really challenged as she finished with a time of 35:11. Ruck earned a total of $1200, like her teammate Steagall.

Asheville, NC's Kate Schwartz ran 35:38 to edge ASICS GTC-ELITE's Dylan Hassett (35:39) by one second. Hassett, who won the 2016 race, was running her first race since December due to a nagging foot injury. Schwartz earned $700 for second, while Hassett won a combined total of $600 ($500 + $100 as second South Carolina resident). Hassett's teammates, Alison Parris was fourth in 36:17 ($400 + $50 = $450) and Kate Dodds was fifth at 37:06 ($300). 

GTC-ELITE produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and is sponsored by ASICS, the 45-year-old Greenville Track Club, Greenville Health System, ScanSource, Joy Real Estate, the Bare Minimum Track Club,  generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Soleus Running Watches, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Roll Recovery, FinalSurge, The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, and NormaTec Recovery Boots. ​​​​​​