Weitzel Runs Personal Best at 45th Cooper River Bridge Run 10K

Jason Weitzel (striped singlet) among the lead pack before climbing the bridge.

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On a cooler, but breezy, Saturday morning ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Jason Weitzel ran a personal best of 29:22 for 10K in the 45th edition of the Cooper River Bridge Run from Mt. Pleasant to Charleston, SC. That placed him 12th overall in a field mostly dominated by Kenyan-born athletes as seven finished ahead of him. Although finishing well behind second-placer and 2016 USA Olympian Leonard Korir (28:27), he bested two other USA Olympians (2021 marathon) in Abdi Abdirahman (13th/29:37) and Jake Riley (15th/29:58). 

Jason finished as the fifth USA citizen and second South Carolinian. Greenville's James Quattlebaum, who is currently ranked first among South Carolina road racers (Weitzel is second) was the third USA and first South Carolina finisher with his 10th place overall (29:01). Weitzel's time was also a new 10K best for the ASICS GTC-ELITE program, eclipsing the long-standing performances of Adam Freudenthal and Ricky Flynn back in 2014.

Jason Weitzel

James Quattlebaum and Jason Weitzel after the finish. Photo: Whitaker

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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 for 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.​