Thomas Morgan joined his teammates in a successful evening of racing in Boston 1/30. After finishing 4th in his first mile race of 2010 (4:04.94), the 5th year resident athlete came back 4 hours later to finish 2nd in the 5,000m in a time of 13:53.33, an indoor personal best. "Thomas has really pulled himself together after a rough 2009," said ZAP coach Pete Rea. "He is slowly but surely rounding into form and gaining confidence along the way."

First year ZAP athlete Nick Polk made it 3 for 3 at Terrier by running 8:09.98 in the men's 3,000m, good for 6th place and a personal best time by more than 15 seconds. "Nick spent much of the fall injured and training on the Alter G," said coach Pete Rea, "and he has done a nice job of moving forward off of that toward the track season

Thomas Morgan began his 2010 track campaign on Saturday 1/16 by winning the Virginia Tech Indoor Track & Field Invitational 3,000m in a time of 8:11.24. First year ZAP athlete Nick Polk finished 3rd in the race. Morgan and Polk will both return to action on 1/30 at the Terrier Classic Invitational on the campus of Boston University. 

2nd year ZAP resident athlete Jessica Minty ran a personal best 1:14.22 at the USATF Half Marathon championship on Sunday 1/17 in Houston, TX. The performance was Minty's 3rd consecutive PR at the half marathon distance and more than 2 minutes faster than her previous best of 1:17.37 set at San Francisco in July. The performance also qualifies Minty for the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials, the first Olympic Trials for the 25 year-old Colby College graduate. Minty is now the 2nd ZAP athlete to secure a spot at the 2012 Marathon Trials. First year athlete David Jankowski did so by virtue of his 28:27 track 10,000m race on 10/31. Rookie ZAP Fitness athlete Alissa McKaig also competed at Houston finishing in a time of 1:15.14. 

For the 3rd time in the last 4 years ZAP Fitness ended its' fall season with a win at the USATF National Club XC Championships. Over the rolling hills of Masterson Station Park in Lexington, KY, ZAP was led by first year ZAP resident athlete David Jankowski who won the race in a time of 29:18, 9 seconds ahead of NYAC runner Josh Simpson. It is Jankowski's first individual national championship. 2nd year ZAP athlete Dave Nightingale finished 3rd in a time of 29:40 and team captain Thomas Morgan finished 12th on his home-town course in a time of 30:14. Rounding out ZAP's 5 man team were Nate Peck who finished 16th in a time of 30:28 and first year athlete Nick Polk who was 40th in 31:07. "We only had five men on the line and needed everyone to execute," said ZAP Coach Pete Rea, "and that is exactly what they did. All five gave themselves a positive effort heading toward the spring." ZAP won the team title with a combined score of 60 points, 32 points ahead of runner-up Boulder Running Company (92). See a photo of the winning team below.

In the women's race, first year ZAP resident athlete Alissa McKaig ran to the front of the pack early and finished 3rd in a time of 20:38 over the 6 kilometer course. After a quick opening mile, 2nd year resident athlete Jessica Minty struggled over the last 2,000m and finished 27th in a time of 21:27. McKaig will be running the Midnight Run 4 Mile Race in Central Park on New Year's Eve and join Minty at the Houston 1/2 Marathon in January.

ZAP would like to congratulate the Florida State University Women's XC team who finished 2nd at last week's NCAA Championships and Duke's Women who finished 8th. Both teams enjoyed camps at ZAP in 2009. In addition ZAP would like to congratulate Ryan Hill of N.C State University and Jeff See of Ohio State University who both grabbed All-American honors at the NCAA Championships. Both N.C. State and Ohio State used the ZAP center for fall 2009 training and racing camps.

1st year ZAP athlete Nick Polk successfully returned to competition with a 2nd place performance at the Charlotte Turkey Trot 8k (25:03). Polk had an 8 week lay-off due to a stress reaction and is now back to training at full strength.

Thanksgiving also saw ZAP in action on the West Coast as resident athlete Thomas Morgan performed well in finishing 8th at the Silicon Valley 5k (San Jose, CA) in a time of 14:01. "It is really great to see Thomas rounding back into form after a tough spring," said ZAP Coach Pete Rea. "He has stayed with it and is looking better each cycle."

The Manchester Road Race (4.74 miles) in Manchester, Connecticut has become a holiday tradition for the ZAP Elite resident team since 2002, but there has yet to be a year as successful as 2009 with all 4 ZAP athletes who competed finishing in the top 10. On the men's side first year resident athlete David Jankowski continued his successful fall by finishing 3rd in a time of 21:44, just 4 seconds behind winner Haron Lagat of New Mexico (21:40). 2nd year ZAP athlete Dave Nightingale was 7th in a time of 22:05, 37 seconds faster than his 2008 performance. In the women's race ZAP rookie Alissa Mckaig finished 6th in a time of 22:56 with Jessica Minty 8th in a time of 26:08, 41 seconds faster than her 2008 race.