Josh Moen led a 2nd, 3rd, 5th-place finish for Team USA Minnesota at Saturday's USA 25K Championships in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Behind Moen's personal record 1:16:09 runner-up result, defending champion Andrew Carlson finished third in 1:16:35, and Matt Gabrielson was fifth in 1:17:50. 2008 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon champion Fernando Cabada won the race in 1:15:41.
In the women’s race, Bloomington's Jen Houck finished 5th in 1:30:06; Team USA Minnesota's Emily Brown was seventh in 1:31:55.
According to the Team USA Minnesota media release, Moen and Carlson went out with the leaders and were still with a front pack of five runners at mile 7. At that point, the lead pack was reduced to three, with Moen and Carlson staying in contention until mile 12 when Cabada made a surge and separated himself from the Team USA Minnesota duo.
“The race went pretty well for me,” Moen said. “The first few miles people were relaxed and the pace was sporadic, anywhere from 4:40 to 5 minutes (the opening mile was run in 4:39). By the seventh mile, three of us worked together to pull away from the other two runners in the lead pack. At mile eleven in the rolling hills, Andrew put a gap on me but I caught him and just pushed hard to put a little distance between us.
“With two miles to go, the monkey jumped on my back and I was worried Andrew was going to catch me," he added. "It wasn’t until the last quarter of a mile that I knew I was in the clear to take second place. I wanted to win this race but I think I ran pretty smart. I was in it the whole time.”
The USA 25k Championships were part of the 34th annual Fifth Third River Bank Run, which starts and finishes in downtown Grand Rapids and is the largest 25k road race in the country.
Monday, May 16, 2011
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