By David Rogers. NEW YORK CITY — Blowing Rock-based Amanda Vestri has enjoyed a storybook year in distance running — and that 2025 journey just got more memorable after she finished No. 9, overall among women in the New York City Marathon. She was the No. 4 American woman, finishing in 2:25:40, behind three Kenyans, three Americans, one athlete from The Netherlands and one from Great Britain. It was Vestri’s marathon debut on Nov. 2 — and the fastest marathon debut in history for any American woman.

A member of Blowing Rock-based ZAP Endurance and sponsored by Brooks sports apparel, Vestri’s historic jaunt through the five New York City boroughs puts an exclamation mark on her 2025 season. Earlier this year, she won the U.S. Women’s 6K Road Running Championships in Canton, Ohio (July 12); was No. 2 in the U.S. 4-Mile Road Running Championship in Peoria, Ill. (June 14); placed No. 6 in the Mastercard New York Mini 10K (June 7); was No. 3 in the USA Half Marathon Championships in Atlanta (March 2); No. 4 in the Aramco Houston Half Marathon (Jan. 19); No. 4 in the Medtronic Twin Cities 10-Mile in Minneapolis (Oct. 5); and No. 8 on the track for the U.S. Track & Field Championships 10,000 Meters in Eugene, Ore. (July 31).

For the ZAP Endurance team, Vestri now owns the club records at a range of distances, including the 3,000 Meters; 5,000 Meters; 10,000 Meters; Half Marathon; and the Marathon. In New York for her marathon debut, her 2:25:40 time was 12 seconds faster than teammate Tristin Colley’s 2:25:52, set in Chicago.

“Amanda ran the first half of today’s race close to a minute faster than I wanted her to go out,” said ZAP Endurance head coach Pete Rea. “The concern was that she wouldn’t have enough gas in the tank to finish the last half strongly. But overall, her race today was impressive. When she got to the 21 miles marker, she was No. 9 and that is where she finished. She didn’t let any of the following runners pick her off in the closing miles.”

Rea reported that Vestri was running with the lead pack until about the 15 mile marker. “That’s when the eventual top three runners, all from Kenya, put the hammer down,” said Rea.

Those three included No. 1 Helen Obiri, who set a new course record that had stood for 23 years, in 20:19:51. She was followed by No. 2 Sharon Lokedi (2:20:07) and No. 3 Sheila Chepkirui (2:20:24).

Next to cross the line were Americans Fiona O’Keefe (No. 4, 2:22:49) and Annie Frisbie (2:24:12). Rea said Vestri was running with American recordholder for the marathon, Emily Sisson for a good bit of the closing laps, but the veteran gained some separation to finish 35 seconds in front of the High Country’s newcomer.

“Amanda had a great debut marathon,” said Rea. “She was controlled and relaxed through 30 kilometers and then maintained a courageous effort home in her first stab at this distance. New York is the toughest of the world’s seven elite marathons, which also include Tokyo, Boston, London, Sydney, Chicago and Berlin. Starting on Staten Island, running through the five boroughs is probably two and half minutes slower for most athletes. You don’t run New York for time, but for the competition and Amanda competed very well. She executed our plan for Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Manhattan beautifully. Her future in the marathon is bright.”

With ZAP Endurance’s imminent closure by the end of the year, most of its team members have already signed contracts with other teams, including teams affiliated with shoe companies like adidas, Puma and On.

By David Rogers. BLOWING ROCK, N.C. — It has been 25 years since Zika Rea and her late husband, Andy Palmer, arrived in Blowing Rock to launch what evolved as ZAP Endurance, originally called ZAP Fitness, a professional running team focused on developing high potential, post-collegiate athletes. According to an email sent by coaches Pete Rea, Zika Rea and Ryan Warrenburg to the organization’s various stakeholders, the team will officially disband on Dec. 31.

According to Pete Rea, the ZAP team’s head coach, the mission has been to find “diamonds in the rough”, primarily post-collegiate star athletes wanting to make the transition to longer distances, especially the marathon.

Reached by telephone, Rea told High Country Sports that it was a difficult, even agonizing decision, but necessary without ongoing corporate sponsorship.

The people of Boone & Blowing Rock have supported our goals and our mission and welcomed each new athlete as one of their own since 2001. We will forever be grateful.

For 14 years, ZAP Endurance was sponsored by Reebok, then by On, a Swiss manufacturer of running shoes. Other revenue to support operations has come from a broad base of donors to the non-profit, as well as profits from running camps for recreational and developmental runners conducted in the High Country from April through November.

“Without corporate sponsorship,” said Pete Rea, “we cannot maintain our level of support and training to our high standards. We kept things going on our own the last couple of years after On didn’t renew its sponsorship, hoping to identify another large, brand-name sponsor, but it didn’t happen. Going it alone is not a financially sustainable model.”

Given the exposure ZAP Endurance has provided for Blowing Rock and Boone to the growing track and field, as well as cross country communities worldwide, the team’s disbanding will have a modest economic impact.

“ZAP Endurance has been a mainstay in the High Country since 2001, and a model for doing things right in and for the community,” said Shane Fox, Blowing Rock town manager, in a phone interview. “It is hard to even estimate the negative impact, economically, in losing their running camps as well as the number of athletes drawn to our town because ZAP has called this home. But ZAP has brought even more than money to the area. They’ve consistently brought positive attention to the region.”

ZAP’s leadership sounded almost wistful in speaking with High Country Sports.

“Zika and I have called the North Carolina High Country home for a quarter century as we trained some of the finest distance runners in America,” said Rea. “We couldn’t have chosen a better community to establish our business. The people of Boone & Blowing Rock have supported our goals and our mission and welcomed each new athlete as one of their own since 2001. We will forever be grateful.” 

CURRENT TEAM MEMBERS’ HIGHLIGHTS APLENTY

Over the past 25 years, ZAP Endurance has qualified athletes for the U.S. Olympic Trials, both in the marathon as well as other track distances, 69 times. Ironically, the team’s disbanding comes after arguably its best two years of elite competition.

Amanda Vestri

Amanda Vestri is the reigning USA Track & Field 6K champion, July 12, in Canton, Ohio, where she led from start to finish. At a longer distance, she was No. 3 to cross the finish line this past March in the U.S. Half Marathon Championships. In November, she will make her marathon debut at the historic (and grueling) New York City Marathon.

Vestri’s No. 3 finish the U.S. Half Marathon Championships earned her a spot on the U.S. National team competing later this month in the 2025 World Athletics Road Running Championships, to hosted this year in San Diego, Calif., Sept. 26-28.

At the USATF Championships in Eugene, Ore., on July 31, Vestri was in the top three spots for most of the Women’s 10,000 Meters event before finishing No. 8 among the nation’s top long-distance athlete, just 45 seconds behind the winner, Emily Infield.

Vestri also had a podium finish in June, finishing the Peoria, Ill.-hosted Steamboat Classic and the USATF 4-Mile Championships in the No. 2 spot. A week earlier, she finished No. 6 out of almost 10,000 women competing in the Mastercard New York Mini 10K on the streets of Midtown Manhattan and Central Park.

Ryan Ford

Teammate Ryan Ford impressed the marathon world on Nov. 4, 2024, when he had one of history’s best marathon debuts, finishing No. 11 in an elite field. Ford teamed with ZAP coming out of college, aiming to move from middle distances to compete professionally at the longer distances.

In May this year, Ford returned to his hometown of Huntsville, Ala., to win the Cotton Row 10K, just a month after taking three minutes off the ZAP Endurance club record for the marathon, in the 129th running of the Boston Marathon, where he finished No. 10.

In May of 2024, Ford had what Rea described as a “massive” performance in north London, England, in the iconic “Night of 10,000 Meters PBs” event.

Ford, along with ZAP teammate Dan Schaffer, finished No. 1 and No. 3, respectively, in the Men’s Elite 5K at the premier Mt..SAC Relays, in Southern California, in April 2023.

At the 2025 U.S. National Half Marathon Road Racing Championships, Ford finished No. 7 in the event, hosted in Atlanta, in early March. A couple of weeks earlier, Ford was No. 5 in the Armagh International 5k, in Northern Ireland.

Andrew Colley

In Northern Ireland for the Armagh International 5k, ZAP Endurance’s most veteran team member, Andrew Colley, won the event over an elite international field, just three months after he won the prestigious Manchester Road Race in Connecticut, followed by a No. 8 finish in the Houston Marathon, in which he set a ZAP Endurance club record for the 26.2 mile distance. The new club record didn’t last long, as Ford shattered t just three months later, at the Boston Marathon.

On May 4 this year, Colley was the top American at the historic Prague Marathon in The Czech Republic, in finishing No. 5 behind runners from Ethiopia, Kenya and Japan, but well ahead of other athletes from Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Spain, Spain, Italy, Poland, Belgium, Slovakia, Australia and Kazakhstan, among others.

In 2024, Colley qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials at 10,000 Meters, at one point movingto the front to push the slow pace faster. He eventually finished No. 8, as both he and Ford finished in the top 10, a remarkable club achievement for the nation’s premier pre-Olympics event.

Tristin (Van Ord) Colley

The one-time Appalachian State distance running star (as Tristin Van Ord), Tristin Colley and husband Andrew Colley kept a couple of races this summer “in the family,” so to speak, when the duo won the men’s and women’s divisions of the Winston-Salem hosted Cook Medical Beat the Heat 5k on July 12, then a week later repeated the family sweep at the “Crazy 8s” 8K race, ahead of more than 2,000 runners in Kingsport, Tenn.

In early July, the distaff Colley finished No. 62 overall among the more than 40,000 runners in the Atlanta Journal Constitution Peachtree Road Race, in which husband Andrew finished No. 7.

Colley was No. 19 in the Women’s Division of the 2025 Boston Marathon, No. 16 in the U.S. Women’s Half Marathon Championships, No. 25 in the Mastercard New York Mini 10K, and No. 13 in last November’s women’s division of the TCS New York City Marathon.

In April 2024, she finished No. 12 among women running in the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-Mile race in Washington, D.C.

Josh Izewski

Competing against an international field in early March, Josh Izewski was No. 12 to cross the finish line in the Gate River Run 15K. With a No. 7 finish in the ASICs Gold Coast Marathon in Australia, Izewski was the top American behind six athletes from Japan and ahead of runners from Kenya, Canada, Indonesia, Mongolia, New Zealand and Great Britain, among other countries.

After qualifying to compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials for the marathon in 2024, Izewski finished No. 8, just two minutes behind the eventual winner, Conner Mantz. In January 2024, he qualified for the U.S. Trials with a No. 18 finish in the Houston Half Marathon, his first event after an injury.

Eric Van Der Els

Sidelined by injury most of 2024, Eric Van Der Els came roaring back with a No. 8 finish in the May 3, 2025 U.S. 5K Road Running Championships, in Indianapolis. In June, he was No. 7 in the 5K at the Portland (Ore.) Track Festival, less than 11 seconds behind the winner of the event.

Like Ford, Van Der Els is moving up to compete at longer distances and, on Sept. 1, finished No. 12 in the USATF 20K Road Running Championships in New Haven, Conn.

Dan Schaffer

Dan Schaffer, Van Der Els and Ford all joined the ZAP Endurance team in the fall of 2022 after stellar collegiate careers, mostly at the middle distances, from 1500 meters to 5,000 meters.

Schaffer has arguably been the slowest to move up in distance but has at times sparkled. Just about nine months after joining ZAP, Schaffer finished No. 6 in the 1500 meters at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, Ore., with a blistering 3:39,03, less than three seconds behind the winner, Matt Wisner, and more than two seconds ahead of No. 7, Austin Dalquist, in a star-studded field.

In 2023, Schaffer won the Hokie Invitational 1 Mile Run, indoors, and seven months later was No. 3 in the presitious, Sir Walter Miler men’s elite race, in which he was among the seven athletes to record sub-4-minute times.

According to Rea, Schaffer is aiming for his marathon debut in the New York City Marathon, in early November.

Annmarie Tuxbury

Last autumn, Annmarie Tuxbury won the women’s division of the Eversource Hartford Half Marathon, in Hartford, Conn., while former ZAP teammate and now an assistant coach at M.I.T., Whitney Macon, was No. 3.

A native of New Hartford, Conn., Tuxbury joined ZAP Endurance in late 2022, aiming to make the transition from shorter distances to the marathon. A few months later she won the Wilmington (N.C.) Half Marathon.

Last year, the unselfish Tuxbury served as the “rabbit” for the App State Open women’s 10K race at the new Randy Marion Track & Field Facility, in Boone.

In 2023, Tuxbury was the No. 2 women’s finisher and No. 11 overall in the Wyoming Valley 10-Mile Run from Pittston to Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

More recently, she was No. 3 in the “Crazy 8s” 8K Road race women’s division won by teammate Tristin Colley.

A Poignant Moment and Memory

There are many other highlights of ZAP Endurance’s impact on professional distance running, but one that stands out for High Country Sports and sister publication, Blowing Rock News, was having six team members qualify for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials in Los Angeles.

ZAP team member Tyler Pennel just missed qualifying for the Olympic team, finishing No. 5. Even in mid-January, the Southern California temperatures can push 80 degrees Fahrenheit on a sunny day, and that was the case in 2016. From the start, it was a slow pace with almost 50 athletes in the lead pack. At Mile 13, Pennel broke from the lead pack, pushing the pace and at one point leading the pack by almost a full minute. He led the race for the next six miles until overtaken by eventual winner Galen Rupp.

In the post-race press conference, No. 2 finisher Meb Keflezighi said, in an answer from a question from Blowing Rock News. It was a soundbite that went viral around the world: “Tyler made the race.”

Now retired from professional racing, Pennel had a distinguished career with ZAP, including finishing No. 1 in his marathon debut at the 2014 Twin Cities Marathon. He also earned a spot in the 2014 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, where he finished No. 33. In his first race back from an early 2016 injury, he finished No. 8 in the New York City Marathon. In 2018, Pennel placed No. 4 in the Boston Marathon, the second American.

Neither the current ZAP athletes, the Reas, nor assistant head coach Warrenburg have announced their plans for after Dec. 31.

By David Rogers. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Not even a lightning storm could energize this game. Hardly a growl, much less a roar Sept. 7 on at least one side of the football field as the Jacksonville Jaguars muzzled the Carolina Panthers, 26-10.

While Jacksonville at least showed some promise of better things to come under new head coach Liam Coen, especially given running back Travis Etienne’s 143 yards rushing on 16 carries, neither side looked ready to compete for a Super Bowl championship. Just to illustrate how abysmal were the Panthers, the Jaguars won — but had to overcome three turnovers (2 fumbles, 1 interception) and 11 drive-killing penalties that set them back 93 yards. Almost half of Jacksonville’s points came from field goals: placekicker Cam Little was 4-for-4 on field goal attempts from 35, 47, 36, and 28 yards.

 

Meanwhile, Carolina managed a mere 255 total net yards, 142 passing and 113 rushing. About the best thing to describe the Panthers’ offensive performance: it was balanced failure. Now in his third year as QB with arguably more offensive weapons around him, Bryce Young completed 18 of 35 passes for 154 yards, one TD vs. two interceptions. Add a lost fumble, and Young was responsible for three drive-killing turnovers.

There were few bright spots in the Panthers’ Game 1 performance:

• • Rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan pulled in five Young passes for 68 yards, exhibiting the promise that made him the 2025 NFL Draft’s No. 8 pick, overall. It is small sample size, but he looks like a keeper.
  • With 41 seconds to go in the first quarter, rookie placekicker was good on a 48-yard field goal, his only opportunity.
  • Chuba Hubbard caught three passes for 32 yards, one a 27-yarder for Carolina’s only TD with under 5 minutes remaining in the game. He also rushed for 57 yards on 16 carries (avg. 3.6), his longest for just 9 yards.

Jacksonville bright spots, giving hope that new head coach Liam Coen is bringing some offensive credibility:

• • Running back Travis Etienne’s 16 carries for 143 yards rushing (avg. 8.9), adding 3 pass receptions for 13 yards.
  • Tight end Brenton Strange continued to be a key contributor, catching all four of his targets for 59 yards, his longest going for 24 yards.
  • Wide receiver Brian Thomas, Jr. only caught one pass for 11 yards, out of seven targets. It was a lackluster day for the much ballyhooed playmaker, although enhanced by one rush for a 9-yard TD late in the second quarter.
  • The Jaguars signed Hunter Long in the offseason primarily as a blocking tight end but he came to fore on this day by catching a short, 6-yard TD pass from QB Trevor Lawrence midway through the second quarter. What’s particularly interesting is during Coen’s tenure as offensive coordinator last year with Tampa Bay, involving the tight ends other than blocking were rare, so to see both Strange and Long as key playmakers against Carolina could signal a shift in coach-think, perhaps influenced by the hiring of new offensive coordinator Grant Udinski after his three years on the Minnesota Vikings’ staff.
  • Placekicker Cam Little’s four field goals on four attempts

UP NEXT

• Carolina travels to Arizona to play the Cardinals. Kickoff @ 4:05 p.m. EDT., Sept. 11.
• Jacksonville plays @ Cincinnati, with a 1:05 p.m. kickoff scheduled against the Bengals.

GAME STATISTICS (courtesy of NFLGSIS)

By David Rogers. CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It was only a preseason football game between the NFL’s Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers but there were a few storylines:

• • Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders looked like he belonged and may have strengthened his cause in the team’s 5-way, 2025 quarterback competition with Joe Flacco (resting), Kenny Pickett (injury), Dillon Gabriel (injury) and Deshaun Watson (injury). Flacco is likely to be the Week 1 starter, but Sanders made a good case for the backup role.
  • For the most part, Sanders looked decisive whether throwing quickly or scrambling out of trouble, completing 14 of 23 pass attempts for 138 yards and 2 TDs. He showed poise in the pocket but stood out when throwing on the run.
  • For the Panthers, starting QB Bryce Young and rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan looked like they have established a healthy connection, including a 30-yard pass along the right sideline, perfectly thrown over the outstretched arms of the defender.
  • Cleveland won, 30-10, which means relatively little in a preseason game. A key statistic that stood out: turnovers. Cleveland didn’t suffer any, Carolina 2, one an interception and the other a turnover on downs.
  • Take away the turnovers by the offense and the Carolina defense played well enough to keep the game much closer. That said, with Sanders playing the first three quarters for Cleveland, the Carolina defense, overall, gave up 308 yards of total net offense and allowed the Browns to score successfully on 4-of-5 trips into the red zone.

By David Rogers. KINGSPORT, Tenn. — Make it two weeks in a row that husband and wife Andrew and Tristin Colley swept the men’s and women’ divisions of the 35th annual Ballad Health and Niswonger Children’s Hospital “Crazy 8s” 8K run. Almost 2,000 athletes competed in the hot and muggy conditions.

Both of the Colleys are members of the Blowing Rock-based ZAP Endurance elite distance running team and they were all smiles after back-to-back winning sweeps, having also won a week earlier in the Cook Medical “Beat the Heat Elite 5K” in Winston-Salem.

ZAP’s Party Central

For ZAP Endurance, the finish line was party central of sorts. Teammate Ryan Ford also had a podium finish at No. 3 (23:14), and middle distance specialist Dan Schaffer crossed the line at No. 5 (23:42).

Tristin Colley was the No. 1 female finisher (26:37) and No. 10 overall. Teammate Annmarie Tuxbury was No. 23 (28:28).

The course started at the intersection of Fort Henry Drive and Legion Dr., and finished with a 100-yard sprint down the center of the Dobyns Bennett High School football field, in Fred Johnson Stadium.

Among other area runners competing in the event, App State cross country and track standout, Emma Russum — now living in Boone but a graduate of Dobyns Bennett High School,  — was the runner-up to Tristin Colley in the women’s division and No. 18 overall (28.18). A transfer from UT-Chattanooga to App State for her senior year, Russum was named the Sun Belt Conference “Newcomer of the Year” in track and field, winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase crown and one of 10 Mountaineers to earn all-conference honors.

Pacing

Andrew Colley led the Crazy 8s race early, but broke free from the pack after two miles, clicking off each mile at about a 4:33 pace the rest of the way. For his winning effort (22:36), Colley picked up the winner’s check of $2,000, bettering his runner-up finish time from a year ago.

This year, the runner-up was North Carolina’s Graydon Morris almost half a minute later (23:02).

As the No. 1 women’s finisher in a personal best for the 8K distance (26:37), Tristin Colley also picked up a check for $2,000.

By David Rogers. WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A record-setting performance by the High Country’s Andrew Colley highlighted the 26th running of the Cook Medical Beat the Heat Elite 5K on July 12 — and a win by his wife, Tristin (Van Ord) Colley, in the Women’s Division completed a storybook day for the Blowing Rock-based ZAP Endurance professional running team.

Andrew Colley is the first and only runner to ever finish the race under 14 minutes, crossing the finish line in 13:53.36 for the slightly more than 3.1 miles course. The previous Beat the Heat Elite 5K record was established in 2017 by Luis Vargas (14:08.40).

But Colley’s performance also establishes a new North Carolina state record for a road race 5k, previously set by Donnie Cowart on June 3, 2022, in the China Grove 5K.

While most of the 26 Men’s elite competitors were from North Carolina, the top 10 included athletes from Charlottesville, Va., Pittsburgh, Pa., and Atlanta, Ga., as well as Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Cary, Lexington, and Winston-Salem.

Colley finished more than a half-minute ahead of the No. 2 elite competitor, Graham Crawford (14:26.74), 32, of Charlottesville, Va.

The Beat the Heat Elite 5K course is fully contained within the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds with plenty of viewing options.

More than 700 recreational runners also competed in a separate race, the Beat the Heat 5K run a little earlier in the evening on a nearby different course, also including parts of the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds. Both course are USATF Certified 5K venues.

In the Women’s Division of the Cook Medical Beat the Heat 5K, former Appalachian State track and cross country star Tristin (Van Ord) Colley, now also a ZAP Endurance team member, kept things in the family by running away with the distaff title. Her time of 16:16.78, was just five seconds shy of the Beat the Heat Elite 5K women’s record of 16:11, set by Blake Phillips Russell in 1999. The North Carolina state 5K road race record for a female is 15:50, set by Laura Mykytok in the Winston-Salem hosted AT&T Long Distance 5K open division, on Aug. 27, 1994.

The No. 2 runner behind Tristin Colley in the women’s race was Cleo Boyd, of Charlottesville, Va., 27 seconds behind. ZAP Endurance had a second team member in the women’s race, Annmarie Tuxbury, who crossed the line at No. 6, in 17:31.23.

Tristin Colley’s mile pace for the completed race was 5:14.

For the wins, each of the Colleys picked up first place prize money of $1,000, plus bonus cash for certain benchmarks, according to the Beat the Heat 5K website. Andrew earned a bonus of $100 for running under 15 minutes, as well as $200 for setting a new Beat the Heat race record.

Tristin also qualified for a time standard record, $100 for completing the race under 17 minutes.

The Colley wins in Winston-Salem completed a storybook day for the Blowing Rock-based ZAP Endurance team. Earlier that morning, teammate Amanda Vestri earned her first national championship crown by winning the USATF Women’s 6K National Championship in Canton, Ohio.

CLICK HERE for the Amanda Vestri story.

 

 

 

By David Rogers. CANTON, Ohio (remote) — Maybe Amanda Vestri was proving the old adage, No. 2 tries harder.

After finishing as the runner-up in the 2024 USATF Women’s 6Km Championship, Blowing Rock-based ZAP Endurance’s Vestri, sponsored by Brooks athletic apparel, returned to Canton, Ohio a year later to finish No. 1 in the 2025 version of the event, crossing the finish line almost seven seconds ahead of the new No. 2, Annie Frisbie (Minnesota Distance Elite, Puma), 18:28.57 vs. 18:35.26.

Two other Puma-sponsored runners, Fiona O’Keefe (No. 3, 18:37.18) and Molly Born (No. 4, 18:40.01) were the only other professional runners to cross the line in under 19 minutes.

A year ago, Vestri completed the 6Km (3.728 miles) in 18:16. Weather might have played a part in the marginally slower time. When the gun went off to start the race at 8 am, the temperature was already approaching 90 degrees, with wind gusts exceeding 11 mph and 80 percent humidity.

The USATF-sanctioned national championships was run in conjunction with the Women’s 6K Festival. Vestri led from the start to the finish, running the first two miles at a 4:53 pace for each one and opening a three second lead over a group of four, including Frisbie, O’Keefe, Born and Edna Kurgat.

For the closing distance, Vestri used her High Country training to great effect, as described by the USATF account.

“Then, Vestri powered up the course’s largest hill to make the gap insurmountable. She led by seven seconds 5K and that was the margin of victory when she broke the tape at Centennial Plaza,” said the USATF account.

“I just kind of wanted to take it from the gun,” said Vestri, who moves into second place in the USATF Running Circuit point standings, according to the USATF account. “In these shorter races, I’m not really keen to just sit and run 5:15, 5:20. So, I just wanted to take it out. That’s the best way I run.”

While picking up a $6,000 check as the winner, Vestri moves on from road racing to the the track where she will compete in the USATF Outdoor National Championships in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters, in Eugene, Ore., July 31 to Aug. 3.

 

By David Rogers. QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA (remote) — Crossing the finish line ahead of some 15,000 runners to finish No. 7 and only three and a half minutes behind a sextet of marathon athletes from Japan, Blowing Rock’s Josh Izewski was the first American to finish the 26.2 miles of the legendary Gold Coast Marathon in Queensland on July 6.

On a course staged alongside some of Australia’s most famous surfing beaches, the Gold Coast is billed as Australia’s “flattest, fastest and most scenic” marathon course.

Izewski, 33, used a strong final 10K to finish at the top American in the field, moving up from No. 14 in the final six miles, to capture the No. 7 spot at the finish line. His time of 2:11:00 was just six seconds off his personal best for the distance, 2:10:54, established earlier this year in the Houston Marathon. It was Izewski’s second time competing in the Gold Coast event. In the second go around, he bettered his No. 5 mark in 2023 by 26 seconds (2:11:26).

Yuki Takei of Japan completed the course in 2:07:33 to capture the No. 1 title and collect not only the $20,000 first place prize money, but also picked up an additional $5,000 bonus for breaking the previous course record (2:07:40).

Takei was the first of six Japanese runners to sweep the first six spots, with Izewski crossing at No. 7 ahead of an international mix in the “top 25” that included 12 athletes from Japan, three from Kenya, two from Indonesia, two from New Zealand, two from Australia, and one each from the USA (Izewski), Canada, Great Britain and Mongolia.

Izewski’s No. 7 finish was a mere nine seconds behind Japan’s Yuto Imae.