On one of the coolest days in the
45-year history of the AJC Peachtree Road Race, Christo Landry kept
his hot streak alive, winning his third-consecutive title on the
roads this year when he took the lead with 400 meters to go to win
the race and the men’s USA 10 km Championships in 28:25.
Winning the women’s race and USA 10
km Championships was Amy Hastings, who seized the lead at the crest
of Cardiac Hill and never relinquished it, breaking the tape in 32:16
for her first 10K road title. Hastings, 30, was on a streak of her
own: the AJC Peachtree Road Race was her third 10-kilometer race in
21 days.
Each of the winners took home $15,000
of the $100,000 total prize purse on a partly sunny morning with a
temperature of 67 degrees at the start. It was the second year in a
row that the AJC Peachtree Road Race, the largest road race in the
country and the largest 10K in the world, played host to both the
men’s and women’s USA 10 km Championships.
Asked about her grueling competition
schedule, Hastings, of East Providence, RI, said: “I did things
like that in college, but it’s been a long time.”
Finishing second for the women was
Sara Hall, 30, in 32:28, with Rachel Ward third in 32:36.
After the largely downhill opening
miles, a small pack of Hastings, Hall, Ward, and Kellyn Johnson began
heading up Cardiac Hill, going through the 3-mile mark in 15:07.
Ward—who led for much of the early going in last week’s USATF
Outdoor Nationals 10,000-meter race on the track—made a move in the
middle of the hill to take the lead, but Hastings would have none of
it. At the crest of Cardiac, Hastings took off, quickly building up a
25-meter lead that she would never relinquish.
“Amy stayed really strong on those
hills, which is really tough to do,” said Hall.
Hastings said that winning the USA
title felt “incredible … but to do it on the Fourth of July, it
just feels even better.”
In the men’s race, local favorite
Girma Mecheso, who was a high school star in nearby Lilburn, GA,
surged at the 1-mile mark, taking a 10-meter lead on the deep field,
but Tyler Pennel led a pack of Landry, Aaron Braun, Shadrack Biwott,
and Jake Riley in overtaking him partway up Cardiac Hill. Pennel kept
up the push, and one by one dropped everyone but Landry. Over the
last mile it was a two-man race, with Pennel, the 2012 NCAA Division
II 10,000-meter champion who was the seventh American finisher here
last year, and Landry together at the turn 800 meters from the
finish.
For a moment, it looked as if Pennel
would prevail, but 400 meters from the finish Landry put the hammer
down. Pennel could not respond, with Landry prevailing for his
third-consecutive USA road title in three months, beginning with the
USA 10-Mile Championship on April 6 and then, five weeks later, the
USA 25 km Championships.
“Coming in, I was thinking it was a
very strong field,” said the 30-year-old Landry, who lives and
trains in Ann Arbor, MI. “While I knew I could win, I also
very well knew that I could get seventh or eighth with the quality of
this field. I’m glad I had a good day.”
Pennel would hang on to finish second
in 28:30, with Shadrack Biwott catching Aaron Braun at the line for
third. Both were given the same time, 28:52.
Winning the men’s masters division
was Kevin Castille, 42, in 31:26, with Jen Rhines—making her
masters debut after turning 40 earlier this week, winning on the
women’s side in 33:04, good for seventh place overall in the
women’s field.
Source:
http://peachtreeroadrace.org/articles/view/landry-hastings-win-on-picture-perfect-peachtree-day
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