Steagall & Garcia Lead ASICS GTC-ELITE in Richmond

Garcia placed 4th in the Half Marathon.

Steagall running to 2nd place in 8K.

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Austin Steagall ran to a new personal best for 8K with a time of 22:59 to lead his ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE teammates to excellent performances in Richmond, VA. On a chilly, breezy morning in the state's capitol, Steagall improved on his PB of 23:34 by 35 seconds. His performance was good for second place in the VCU Health 8K and was worth $500 in prize money. Defending champion Craig Nowak of Furman Elite, covered the course in 22:54 to best Steagall by 5 seconds. Aaron Nelson of Reebok ZAP Elite was third in 23:02, while former Furman University All American Troy Reeder (now Furman Elite) took fourth with a time of 23:08. Runners from Greenville, SC placed three among the first four and six within the top eleven in the race that had over 3,500 participants. 

Steagall's teammate Ryan Bugler, running his first race since joining the program in September, finished 11th with a personal best of 24:20. Their teammate, Victor Pataky, placed 15th with a time of 24:41, which was only one second off his personal best.

In the Markel Richmond Half Marathon, ASICS GTC-ELITE's Eddie Garcia placed fourth with a time of 1:05:37. The 2015 Southeastern Conference (SEC) 10,000-meter champion while at the University of Florida, Garcia earned $150 prize money for his efforts in Richmond. It was an improvement of his personal best by 40 seconds. His teammate, Zach Mains also ran a personal best with a time of 1:08:45 to place 12th. 

Ryan Bugler

Victor Pataky

Zach Mains

GTC-ELITE was established in 2012 and produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles. The post-collegiate, Olympic development program is sponsored by ASICS, the 46-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 and Synergy Performance (mental performance).  The club is a proud member of both the Road Runners Club of America and the USATF. ​