By David Rogers. ORLANDO, Fla. — In a stacked field — 149 of the most elite male long distance running athletes in the U.S. — finishing in the top 20, much less the top 10 is quite an accomplishment. Representing Blowing Rock based ZAP Endurance, Josh Endurance was No. 8 to cross the finish line on Jan. 3 in the U.S. Olympic Trials for the marathon.
Izewski did not make the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team but served notice that he is a talent to be reckoned with in professional long distance running. His 2:11:09 time broke the ZAP Endurance club record and he was a little more than two minutes behind first place finisher, Connor Mantz, running for Nike and clocking 2:09:06. The No. 2 finisher was Clayton Young (ASICS/Run Elite Program), in 2:09:06. Leonard Korir (Nike/U.S. Army WCAP) finished at No. 3 in a time of 2:09:57.
All of the athletes competing in the Feb. 3 Olympic Trials event had to first “qualify” by running beneath a certain standard. For the men, an athlete had to have run the 26.2 mile distance in 2:18:0 between Jan. 1, 2022 and December 5, 2023 OR a half marathon in 1:03:00. The women’s qualifying standards were 2:37:00 for the marathon and 1:12:00 for the half marathon.
The top three athletes in the Trials event are selected to represent the U.S. in their respective men’s and women’s events.
The marathon events are scheduled for Aug. 10, 2024, covering an historic route through Paris and out to Versailles and back. The historic event recognized with the Olympic marathon route is a key moment from the French Revolution: the Women’s March on Versailles, on 5 October 1789.
ZAP Endurance, an elite, professional distance running club based in Blowing Rock, had six athletes competing who met the qualifying standard. On the women’s side, ZAP member and former App State cross country and long distance runner in track, Tristin Van Ord finished the race at No. 17 in the field of 117 elite U.S. female athletes.
The other ZAP members competing:
- MEN: Tyler Pennel, who in 2016 (Los Angeles) finished No. 5 out of approximately 280 elite runners (he led the field from Mile 13 to Mile 19), was forced to drop out of the Orlando trials after 11 miles because of a hamstring injury. Through that distance he was running a 5:00 mile pace, including a 4:50 pace at Mile 9.
- MEN: Andrew Colley was running at an impressive, 4:44 mile pace through Mile 17 and was in touch with the race leaders when he was forced to retire because of gastrointestinal issues, at Mile 19.
- WOMEN: Annemarie Tuxbury finished at No. 62, clocking a time of 2:39:53, averaging 6:06 minutes per mile.
- WOMEN: Whitney Macon made it through the 20-miles mark before having to abandon the race due to injury. When she dropped out, she was running at approximately a 6:39 mile pace.
RELATED LINKS
- https://www.paris2024.org/en/olympic-marathon-route/
- https://track.rtrt.me/e/ORLANDO-TRIALS-2024#/leaderboard/top-men-marathon/FINISH
- https://track.rtrt.me/e/ORLANDO-TRIALS-2024#/leaderboard/top-women-marathon/FINISH
