Its time for Clubs Clubs Clubs!

PAUSATF Champs at Golden Gate Park

Its mid-December once more, and before our GRC squads change into road flats or track spikes, they'll gather once more on the grass, mud and (this year) sand to run a hard distance race with 200+ of their closest friends. That's right running fans, its time for USATF Club Cross County Nationals! In true cross country fashion, GRC's teams this year are led by milers, marathoners and everyone in between. They'll travel together across this great land to the great city of San Francisco, where they'll throw down in Golden Gate Park this Saturday. Though the long trip means we'll put fewer runners on the line than last year, we're bringing a much larger group than when we went to Bend two years ago.

I'll turn it over to Jerry for the blow-by-blow...

The crew at the (re)-inaugural USATF East Region Champs. Photo Cred: GSTC

"Our goal for the men is to grad a top-10 spot. After a 9th place finish two years ago in Bend, the Men are hungry to get back to that level on their return trip to the West Coast. We've got a very experienced top 5, as Mike, Luke, and Sam have all run numerous Clubs for us and are all in great shape. Matt Rand scored for us last year, and he's in better shape this year. Phil and Cabell will be making their first appearances for GRC at Clubs. Phil is the USATF Eastern Region champion and could be our top man, and Cabell is ready for a big breakthrough. Balmer and Tex round out the A squad, both bringing solid Clubs experience with them."

Phil gets the win at East Regionals while doing the Carlton. Photo Cred: GSTC

"The women's A team has had a lot of new faces this year, but we've reloaded with Hannah, and Frances Loeb and will be gunning for a strong team finish. Maura and Susan will be running their first Clubs since 2012, and with Hannah and Frances, they should be a solid front group. Kara, Tina, and Chelsea are also running on the A team and will give us solid depth in a race this size."

GRC Women off the Line. Photo Cred: GSTC

"It will be uncharted territory for Wertz in the masters race. There's a whole lot of competition, but he's got a very good shot at being in the top 10. It's also going to be a whole new experience for everyone in the men's open B race, which is being held for the first time this year due to the massive Men's Open race in Lehigh. We've got a very solid group, led by Tom and Sean, both of whom ran well last year. We should see strong performances from Kyle, Luk, Greg, and Chris in their first clubs. Dickson is only a few weeks removed from MCM, but he's going to give it a go."
 
As always, we'll have live updates coming from the course for as long as my phone battery stays alive. So follow us on twitter for up to the hour stats and projections.

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