USATF Club Cross Country Nationals Were Muddy Fun, and Super, Duper Fast!
Garrett Heath wins! (Photo courtesy of Erik Aguilar at www.painani.org)
San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park was the site of the this year’s USATF 2015 National Club Cross Country Championships, and it was action packed!
More than 1,700 of the nation’s best adult cross country runners converged on the park for several intensely competitive races on a hilly course, that wound through the park and finished on the broad track above the polo field.
Although the day was dry, recent rains left mud and standing water throughout the course. I’ve run several cross country races over the years, but I’ve never seen anything like the quality and quantity of runners out there on Saturday.
“It’s all cream and no crap!” reported one Bay Area runner, while noting he’d slid from being a top finisher locally to being buried in the back of the pack at Nationals.
It was good to see local runners from the River City Rebels, SRA Elite, Golden Valley Harriers, Impalas, and Buffalo Chips mixing it up with some of the best.
The first up were the masters women, with Sonja Friend-Uhl, running for Atlanta Track Club, taking top honors with a speedy 21:59 finish for the 6k.
Olivia Mickle (Bowerman TC) races to the finish while dad (blue jacket) cheers her on. (Photo courtesy of Maria Kelly)
Next up, running a distance of 8k, were the 60+ men. Trust me when I tell you these dudes were killing it out there, and to prove my point, 61 year old Rick Becker, of Club Northwest, won the race (with just a few seconds to spare) in 28:58.
Then they unleashed the masters men 40-59 race, and West Valley Track Club’s phenom Neville “I usually win by a couple minutes” Davey, finished
47 seconds behind winner Kevin Castille, running unattached, who managed 31:00 on the 10k course.
By the time they got to the open women’s race, the course was good and churned up by the thousand runners who’d already spent the morning pounding it out.
Fortunately, this didn’t seem to slow anyone down because these ladies were flying! If you brought a 5:30 pace to this 6k, it would be barely good enough for top-20. I saw many fast locals and at least one Olympian (e.g., Jennifer Rhines) buried in the pack.
The fastest of the women on Saturday, was Amy Van Alstine, running for Hoka One One Northern Arizona Elite. Van Alstine, the 2014 USA Cross Country Champion, took the win with a 19:51 finish, edging out Boulder Track Club’s Laura Thweatt, who finished in 19:52.
Finishing third, and also representing Northern Arizona Elite, was Rochelle Kanuho, who finished in 19:53.
SRA Elite’s Charlie Brenneman (1027) stalks US mile record holder Alan Webb in the open men’s race. (Photo courtesy of Erik Aguilar at www.painani.org)
Finally, it was time for the open men’s A race, and it was another big and rocket-fast event. In total, there were 19 men finishing under 30 minutes on this hilly and muddy 10k course. It was something to behold!
In a shocking finish, Brooks Beasts Track Club’s Garrett Heath sped past early leader Jonathan Grey in the last 100 meters to take the win in 29:06. (That’s 4:41/mile pace!)
Grey, running for Boulder Track Club, came in second in 29:10, and Hoka One One Northern Arizona Elite’s Scot Fauble was third in 29:26.
It was a fantastic day of racing and I was glad I could be there to get my butt kicked. (Just in case you want to know, I finished 83rd of 202 50-year olds!)
Complete results, including team results, can be found here.
Video of the races can be found here.