2024 GRC Awards

In 2024 Zack continued his meteoric rise from collegiate club runner to national class athlete. Zack started the year with a bang, finishing a remarkable 39^th place at the Olympic Trials Marathon, which is the second highest Trials placing in GRC history. Zack bounced back quickly after his triumphant run at the Trials and had two more big results in the spring, finishing an outstanding second place at Broad Street 10 Mile in a club record 47:35, and running a big PR of 14:13.08 in the 5000 on the track, which is second on the all-time list. While Zack spent the fall preparing for the upcoming Houston Marathon, he ran a nice PR of 24:12 at Rothman 8k, which in ninth on the all-time list. Zack has unlimited potential on the roads and track, and he is just getting started.

Alex had a massive breakthrough in 2024 when she ran 2:42:13 at the Berlin Marathon, which is eighth on the GRC all-time list. Alex also ran big PRs at numerous other distances, including 16:54.79 for 5000 on the track, 17:00 for 5k on the roads, and 57:53 for 10 miles at Broad Street. After some well-earned time off post-Berlin Alex delivered for her team by finishing an impressive 75^th at Clubs XC. Those superb performances were the result of incredibly hard work and tireless dedication. Alex maintained a very heavy training load while literally flying to the four corners of the globe as a pilot for United Airlines. Alex is a legitimate contender to qualify for the 2028 Olympic Trials Marathon, and she will do the hard work necessary to give herself a shot.

In his first year with GRC Cameron rewrote the record book by running club records on the roads at 5k (14:27), 8k (23:33) and 10k (29:25). Cam also ran 48:40 for 10 miles, which is fourth on the GRC all-time list, and 34:34 at the Bix 7 Mile, which was an excellent thirteenth place in a national class field. Cam closed out the year by finishing 43rd at Clubs XC, which is seventh on the all-time list. Cam achieved these outstanding results off of low mileage, which was necessitated by his extremely heavy workload as a lawyer at a major firm. There are more club records in Cam’s future on the roads and the track.

Kelsey joined GRC shortly after she completed her collegiate eligibility as a post-graduate at Georgetown. Kelsey jumped directly into the deep end on the roads by competing in the professional fields at the Twin Cities 10 Miler, where she ran 57:11 on a hilly course and placed 21st, and the BAA Half Marathon where she ran 1:18:43 on a brutally hilly course and placed seventeenth. Also on the roads Kelsey ran 28:02 for 8k which is sixth on the GRC all-time list. In XC, Kelsey destroyed the course record at the Gettysburg Invitational by running 20:41, and capped off her season by finishing 33rd at Clubs, which is eleventh on the all-time list. Kelsey will continue to explore her potential at the longer road distances and on the track.

Whitney is the charter member of the GRC women’s Masters squad, and she is blazing a trail for others to follow. In 2024 Whitney placed third in the USATF Masters Grand Prix, which confirmed her status as a national class athlete. Whitney has excelled in XC as a master, finishing 12th at the USATF champs in 2024, 21st at Clubs XC in 2023, and 26th in 2024 in a much more competitive field. Whitney has also excelled on the roads, placing ninth at the USATF Masters 12k Champs in 2024. Shortly before she became a master Whitney won the 2023 Buffalo Marathon in a PR of 3:00:19. Despite a very busy work schedule at NIH where she runs her own lab focused on molecular mechanisms of neural regeneration, Whitney rarely misses practice, and she has been a great training partner and mentor for her less experienced teammates. 

Dylan was a borderline recruit when he joined GRC in 2019, and despite his modest credentials Dylan was determined to prove that he not only belonged at GRC but that he could excel. After years of consistent and focused training he has run the outstanding PRs of 51:48 for 10 miles, 1:08:20 for the half marathon, and 2:26:02 for the marathon. Dylan has achieved those results because of his dogged determination to improve, and he has many more ambitious goals to achieve. Dylan has been a leader of our marathon crew, and he serves as an example for his teammates of what an athlete can accomplish if he dreams big and works hard. Dylan provided distinguished service on the team board, and he spent untold hours doing the thankless tanks behind the scenes necessary for the team to function smoothly.