By David Rogers. NEW YORK, N.Y. — By all accounts, ZAP Endurance professional running team member Ryan Ford had one of history’s best marathon debuts, finishing his first race over the 26.2 miles’ distance through the five boroughs (Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Manhattan) at No. 11, in 2:11:08.
Ford’s time around the grueling NYC course was roughly seven minutes faster than the time of 2:18 needed to run in last February’s U.S. Olympic Trials, in Orlando, where Connor Mantz ran just two minutes faster to win the Olympic Trials event. Not bad for a “rookie.”
“That was a terrific race,” said Sam Grotewold of Ford’s performance, in a text to ZAP endurance head coach Pete Rea. “One of the best marathon debuts ever by an American.”
As the race coordinator of the professional and elite athletes program for New York Road Runners (the NY Marathon’s organizer), Grotewold knows a thing or two about the professionals who choose to run one of the world’s most iconic marathon races.
“Ryan ran a really good race,” said Rea, “and pretty much according to our plan going into it. That plan was to run fairly conservatively the first half of the race and then see how many people he could pass in the last half. Well, he did just that. In fact, he ran the second half of the race 22 seconds faster than he ran the first half, which is quite an accomplishment because the second half is harder, with more ups and downs and turns. At the halfway point running with the wave of elite professional marathoners, Ryan was No. 24. Going into the last 100 yards, he had moved up to No. 12, but sprinted past a very experienced Colin Bennie to beat him by eight seconds and grab the No. 11 spot and the No. 4 American prize money.”
ZAP Endurance’s lone female representative in the race this year was Tristin (Van Ord) Colley, who finished a respectable No. 13 in the women’s division.
“Tristin faced a pretty deep field of athletes in the women’s division this year,” said Rea, “so No. 13 overall and the No. 5 American runner is pretty good. She has faced some adversity this year, so today’s really good performance reinvigorated her career probably for the next few years.”
The Blowing Rock-based ZAP Endurance team’s third athlete in the New York Marathon this year battled through pain to finish No. 24.
“For Josh, it was nothing short of a courageous race,” said Rea. “He came into the week in tremendous shape and poised for a breakthrough performance, so what he had to endure to even finish the race is remarkable, even if the overall result was not what he was aiming for.”
Sheila Chepkirui, or Kenya and running for adidas, was the top women’s performer at 2:2449. Tristin Colley’s 2:30:02 was just over two minutes outside of the top 10, overall, for the women’s race.
Abdi Nageeye of The Netherlands won the men’s race on behalf of NIKE, running the course in 2:07:39. Ford was just 11 seconds out of a top 10 finish.
