Camel City Elite races

**All images [except the first image] are (c) Vanessa Vila and may not be copied or used without express permission from the owner.**

Last weekend (1/30), J & I went to our first professional track meet (as spectators, just to be clear! LOL), the Camel City Elite races. The meet took place at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, just a 20 min drive for us. I had been to this indoor track before, when I ran the Indoor Insanity race in 2015 and 2013. Super exciting to watch elite athletes run on the same track where I have run before too!

Kim, Natalie, me, and Colleen in the 2015 Indoor Insanity marathon relay at the JDL Fast Track. Photo by Fire Eye Studio.

J & I arrived around 12:30 and the meet started at 2:05 PM. We didn’t realize that the college meet was still taking place, so we watched about six heats of the women’s and men’s 4×400 meter relay. The track is a 200 meter track, so you get to see the athletes more frequently than a standard 400 meter track, which is cool.

We plunked ourselves in the middle of the Virginia State University track team… front row, finish line. Perfect Spot! Check out how close I got to these athletes.

First event: Women’s 3,000 meters (that’s 1.864 miles for any other nerds out there!)

Nice side shot of Katie Mackey. She was the top seed with 8:53.99, but sadly came in 4th place at 9:07.66

IMG_8964_1 — Melissa Salerno was the “rabbit.” Alexi Pappas (in green) started strong, but faded to 5th overall. Rachel Schneider took 2nd in 8:58.84, and college athlete Wesley Frazier (NC State) came in 3rd in 9:01.26!

Kerri Gallagher for the win! 8:56.52 = smoking fast! Rio bound? We will find out soon!

IMG_8978_1 — Kerri’s post race interview. I love hearing the athletes speak, and hear how normal and down-to-earth they sound.

Men’s 3,000 meters

We were amazed at this 18-year-old high school phenom, as he hung with the elites:

High school athlete Drew Hunter from VA, hanging in there with the elites!

And the winner:

Hoping my close proximity will help me get faster 😉

Seems like a sweet guy! Definitely has a bright future ahead.

Drew Hunter broke the high school indoor 3K record! 7:59.33

Next up: Women’s 60 meter finals

Check out those strong quads! Boom! Dezerea Bryant in 7.25 seconds

Men’s 60 meter finals

Photo finish! 6.61s (Ramon Gittens, on right) vs 6.63 (Sean McLean, purple Nike shirt) Every hundredth of a second counts!

Women’s 800 meters

I love action shots. Just wish I hadn't cropped their legs :( — I love action shots. Just wish I hadn’t cropped their legs 🙁

IMG_9017_1 — Side shot of Latavia Thomas, who ended up 5th in 2:07.22

Melissa Bishop, from Canada, was the World Championships silver medalist last year. She won in 2:02.10

Men’s 800m:

IMG_9039_1 — Brandon Johnson (purple Nike shirt) for the win in 1:49.58

Women’s 60 meter hurdles, featuring Lolo Jones:

Lolo, 2nd from left, came in 4th in 8.17 sec

Men’s hurdles, featuring Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon, Ashton Eaton:

Not quite the same good form as the women

Just a bunch of buds, hanging out and running fast

IMG_9082_1 — Ashton was a really nice guy, very generous with his time. He signed my Runner’s World cover (with him on it, July ’12) and signed lots of things for kids.

Mellow Mushroom Women’s Mile:

Men’s 1 mile:

IMG_9160_1 — Matthew Centrowitz (London Olympics, 4th place in the 1600m if my memory serves me), won in 3:54.02

He made it look so easy! I missed his "dab" after the finish, but it was cool for him to shoutout to NC like that — He made it look so easy! I missed his “dab” after the finish, but it was cool for him to shoutout to NC like that

IMG_9175_1 — Victory lap! I got a high 5 from him. I was surprised his hand felt cold.

IMG_9151_1 — 10 feet away from multiple Olympians. My inner runNerd was in full force! I was geeking out!!

Overall, a very enjoyable event that I think we’ll continue to go to, as long as we live here. The prize money and fast track brings the athletes here, and it’s great to be so close to such talent. It really inspired me… and then I got sick this past week. A sore throat, so I’m not completely side-lined, but still… I want to run! Anyways, AMAZING job to all the athletes! So sweet for you to come to Winston-Salem, the “Camel City” 🙂

Full results here.

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