1st year resident athletes Alissa McKaig & David Jankowski began their 2010 outdoor track campaigns well on 3/26 at the Raleigh Relays on the campus of N.C. State University. McKaig won the women's 5,000m on a cold and windy night in a time of 16:25. Less than an hour later, Jankowski ran 13:49 for 2nd place in the men's 5,000m. Stephen Furst of Adidas Raleigh won the race in 13:48. McKaig will return to action at the MT SAC Relays on April 16th and Jankowski will next compete at the Blue Shoes Mile on April 10th at Furman University.
4th year resident athlete Allison Grace continued her climb back to fitness on Saturday 3/27 at the Cooper River Bridge Run 10k in Charleston, SC. Grace finished in a time of 33:56, good for 6th overall and the top American spot. Grace is coming off a winter in which the 27 year-old had surgical procedures on both her kidney as well as compartment syndrome procedures on both shins. "Alli is beginning to show form after a rough go in the fall, " said ZAP Coach Pete Rea, "and being only April I believe we will see a good spring and summer racing season."
Saturday 3/27 saw five ZAP Resident athletes in action at the Rotarians against Hunger Event in Boone, NC. The event put together 100,000 meals for the relief effort in Haiti.
1st year resident athlete Alissa McKaig began her spring season on Saturday 3/6 by finishing 4th at the North American / Central American XC Championships at the MT Irvine Golf Resort (Trinidad & Tobago). The United States took 3 of the top 4 spots en route to winning the North American Team Title as well. This was Mckaig's first US Team. McKaig will return to action on Friday 3/26 at the Raleigh Relays.
5 members of the ZAP Resident Team took part in the Reedy River Run 10k on Saturday 3/6 in downtown Greenville, SC and victories were grabbed on both the men's and women's side. In the men's race David Jankowski, Dave Nightingale & Thomas Morgan finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively. 2nd year athlete Nate Peck was close behind in 5th. On the women's side, Allison Grace competed for the first time since winter surgical procedures on both compartment syndrome and kidney stones. Pulling away from the field in the final 3 miles Grace also cruised to an easy win. The ZAP team is currently training in Greenville.
ZAP Fitness resident athletes and staff would like to thank Kent & Linda Satterfield for hosting the entire ZAP team, along with more than 100 members of the Greenville, SC track club, for a dinner and fundraising event on Thursday 3/4. The event took place at ZEN, a restored warehouse in downtown Greenville. The event featured food, music as well as a tribute to local runner John Johnson who recently completed his "50 marathons in 50 states" tour. The Satterfields, who attended the 2009 summer adult running camp in Blowing Rock, have been avid supporters of the ZAP Elite athlete program since attending the camp. Kent did an outstanding job as emcee raffling off a variety of ZAP/Reebok shirts, hats, sweatshirts as well as a full week of adult running camp. The event raised funds which will go directly toward ZAP athlete support. Thank you Satterfields and The Greenville Track Club!
USA Track & Field named first year ZAP Resident Athlete Alissa McKaig to the NACAC (North American & Central American) Championship XC Team last week. Alissa will join her American teammates racing the 6 kilometer senior race at the MT Irvine Resort on the island of Trinidad on Saturday 3/6. Go to www.usatf.org for results following the meet
January 30th saw three ZAP team members in action at the Terrier Classic Invitational on the campus of Boston University. In the men's 5,000m run first year resident athlete David Jankowski picked up the victory in a time of 13:40.79, a personal best track time by 30 seconds. After a controlled opening 3,000m, Jankowski finished his final mile in a time of 4:18 to secure the win. The performance comes on the heels of Jankowski's personal best track 10,000m run in October (28:27).
