For the 2nd year in a row On ZAP Endurance’s Andrew Colley finished 3rd at the US Half Marathon Championships in Pittsburgh. Colley was joined by teammates Joanna Thompson, Joe Stilin and Aaron Nelson Sunday morning in the Steel City.
The races started at 6:55am, 10 minutes ahead of the mass start, and on the men’s side Olympians Leonard Korir and Stanley Kebenei pushed the pace early. Their early tempo quickly created a lead pack of three, including Colley. Stilin and Nelson joined a large chase pack that stayed in tact for the first half of the race. Just before 5k Korir and Kebenei put in another early move to create a 15 meter gap back to Colley.
Running alone in 3rd place between the leaders and a large chase pack, Colley would stay within striking distance of the leading duo over the first half of the race. Colley remained steady and consistent through the middle of the race, maintaining a comfortable lead on the chasers. His early move to go with the leaders would pay off however, as he finished nearly 30 seconds clear of 4th place in 1:03:11. In his half marathon debut Aaron Nelson emerged from the chase pack to garner his first top 10 finish at a US Championship with a 10th place showing. Stilin finished closely behind in 12th, and Joanna Thompson battled through an IT band issue to take 17th place in the women’s field.
This was the final race for Stilin, Colley, and Thompson before they run the Grandma’s Marathon in June.
Click here to watch Colley’s post race interview with Runnerspace.com.