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Borger and Barrett Lead the Way at The St. Jude Rock ‘n Roll DC Half Marathon

By mitchpa on March 24, 2024 • ( 0 )

By George Banker

The St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series Half Marathon, Washington, DC Saturday, March 16, 2024—This was the second year for the new course which started at 14^th Street and Constitution Avenue and finished at 4^th and Pennsylvania Avenue. The male open event record was set in 2022 by Justin Kent of Burnaby, Canada with a time of 1:03:57. The female record is 1:14:02.

The runners were off to a fast start, and going into the first mile (5:07) a pack of six had formed: Zachary Prescott, William Loevner, Peter Borger, Xavier Salvador, Seth Slavin, and Theo Kahler. The pack continued to match strides across the Arlington Memorial Bridge and back, and then onto Rock Creek Parkway. The elapsed time through the third mile was 15:25, the fourth mile was 20:42, and the fifth mile was 25:53. The leader did change several times, but the pack remained close. All moves were being covered.

As the runners were going along Rock Creek Parkway and at the base of Shoreman Drive (near mile 7.5) a surge was made by Slavin, Borger, and Loevner to drop the other three runners. At the top of the hill the trio started to put in some distance. Going into the 11^th mile, Loevner and Borger started to pick up the pace as Slavin began to fade.

Into the last mile Borger added another surge and Loevner could not cover the move and began to fade. Borger took the win with a time of 1:06:54.

The winning female was Tessa Barrett of Arlington, VA with a time of 1:16:15. Barrett was runner-up in 2023 (1:18:31). Marta Mekonen was second with a time of 1:17:22. The third place finisher was Ainsley Jacobs with a time of 1:18:52.

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