By David Rogers. ATLANTA, Ga. — A hard-charging Amanda Vestri, a member of Blowing Rock-based ZAP Endurance professional running team, surged past race favorite Weini Kelati of Flagstaff, Ariz. in the final two miles of the U.S. National Half Marathon Road Racing Championships on March 2, to capture third place and earn the final spot on the U.S. national team. The trio of Americans, led by No. 1 finisher Taylor Roe (Oklahoma State University alum now living in Durham, N.C.) and No. 2 Emma Grace Hurley (originally from Roswell, Ga., Furman University alum, now living in Indianapolis, Ind.) will compete in the 2025 World Athletics Road Running Championships to be hosted in San Diego, Calif., September 26-28.
The 24-yearold Roe completed the hilly course through downtown Atlanta in 1:07:22, followed by Hurley (age 27, 1:07:35) and Vestri (25, 1:08:17). ZAP Endurance teammate Tristin (Van Ord) Colley, a relative newcomer to the 13.1-mile distance, crossed the line at No. 16 (30, 1:11:50).
On the men’s side, ZAP Endurance veteran Andrew Colley ran in the lead pack for most of the race, even pressing to the lead about two-thirds of the way through. Another Oklahoma State alum, Alex Maier (24, Chapel Hill, N.C.) and veteran road racers Shadrack Kipchirchir (36, Colorado Springs, Colo.) and pre-race favorite Hillary Bor (35, Colorado Springs) broke away in the final miles to capture the top three spots to be selected for the World Athletics race in September, representing the U.S. Colley finished No. 5 (1:01:09), less than a minute off Maier’s winning time of 1:00:48. ZAP Endurance teammate Ryan Ford crossed the line No. 7, in 1:01:29.
“It was a really good weekend for ZAP Endurance,” said the team’s head coach Pete Rea after the race. “We are really proud to be represented by Amanda (Vestri) at the World Athletics championships. Plus, the performances of Tristin (Colley), Andrew and Ryan today were really top-notch in what were really deep fields this year. A lot of the country’s top runners were gunning for spots on the team that will represent the USA in San Diego.”
Rea noted that on Saturday, March 1, two more ZAP team members placed high in the Gate River Run 15k (a little more than 9 miles), in Jacksonville, Fla. Veteran marathoner Josh Izewski (34) finished No. 13, while ZAP teammate and middle distance specialist Daniel Schaffer (27) was right behind, at No. 14.
