By David Rogers. BLOWING ROCK, N.C. — For those keeping tabs on the High Country’s elite professional running team, ZAP Endurance, five members will be competing in the upcoming weekend.
Sailing Across the Pond
Andrew Colley and Annmarie Tuxbury will run in the NN Rotterdam Marathon on Sunday, an annual, early April marathon event that has been staged continuously in The Netherlands since 1981.
On Feb. 18, Colley helped the U.S. national cross country team to a No. 6 finish in the World Cross Country Championships held in New South Wales, Australia. A week later, on Feb. 25, Tuxbury blew away her female competitors in winning the Run Wilmington Half Marathon (13.1 miles), completing the course a full minute and 46 seconds ahead of the nearest women’s division finisher.
As a relatively flat course, the Rotterdam marathon is widely considered to be “fast” and an important event to enter for anyone on the fringe of posting a qualifying time for the U.S. Olympic Trials at the marathon distance.
“Rotterdam is one of the fastest marathon courses in the world,” ZAP Endurance head coach Pete Rea explained to High Country Sports. “Annmarie has already qualified for the Trials (2:31 at the U.S. Marathon Championships, in December). However, this is a great opportunity for Andrew to do so and improve upon his personal best of 2:12.13 from Grandma’s Marathon (Duluth, Minn.) in 2019. A side note about the historical significance of this event: Carlos Lopes (Portugal) won the 1984 Olympic Gold Medal in the marathon and broke the world record at Rotterdam in 1985 (2:07.12).
ZAP Endurance already has five team members qualified to run in the U.S. Olympic Trials for the marathon, including Josh Izewski (qualifying with a 2:12.26 time in Houston, in 2022) and Tyler Pennel (2:12.16, Houston, 2023) among the men and Tristin Van Ord (2:27.07, Houston, 2023), Annmarie Tuxbury (2:31.22, CAL Invitational, Sacramento, Calif., 2022), and Whitney Macon (2:32.44, Rotterdam, 2022).
Go West, Young Men and Women
Dan Schaffer, Ryan Ford and Tristin Van Ord will competed wearing ZAP Endurance colors on Friday, April 14, in the Elite Division of the 5,000 meters.
When it comes to distance running, Schaffer and Ford are established “speed merchants” at 5,000-meters, both having distinguished resumes at that distance during their college years. Both runners made their professional debuts at the 5,000-meter distance in the USATF Men’s 5k Road Championships back in November, running in and around New York City’s Central Park. Ford finished just outside the top 10, at No. 13, while Schaffer was only seconds behind at No. 21. More recently, in January, Schaffer won the Indoor Mile event at the Hokie Invitational hosted by Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., besting an elite field of collegiate and unattached professional athletes.
Van Ord is aiming for a spot on the U.S. team in the marathon for the Paris Olympics, so competing at the 5,000-meter distance amounts to “speed work” in her overall training plan.
ZAP Endurance head coach Pete Rea explained to High Country Sports, “The basic premise is to be a great marathoner you occasionally have to step down in distance, developing skills at more power-oriented events such as the 5,000 or cross-country. For Tristin to make a run at the Paris Olympic Games (2024) in the marathon, we need to improve on all aspects of her running, including her speed. In running jargon, the 5,000 meters distance is also known as ‘the bottom end.'”
