Santa Barbara, California — With the California International Marathon—which will again serve as the USATF National Marathon Championships—just weeks away, the 2018 racing season is already proving to be a phenomenal one for professional and elite rabbit marathoners.
Running in his second marathon, rabbitPRO Seth Totten slashed a massive 5 minutes off of his previous best time, running 2:14:30 to achieve the U.S. Olympic Trials A Standard at the KBC Dublin Marathon. That performance put him just over one minute behind the winner and was good for fifth place overall in a strong international field. For Totten, whose college career was plagued by injuries that kept him from realizing his massive potential, the breakthrough marathon was truly a dream come true. “I didn’t feel like my feet even touched the ground until 35k.”
No doubt inspired by his teammate’s stellar race, fellow rabbitPRO Brogan Austin had a breakthrough performance of his own, earning victory at the CNO Financial Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon in a blazing time of 1:02:39, which lowered his PR by 90 seconds, shaved 35 seconds off the course record, and punched Austin’s ticket to the Olympic Trials. Making for a double rabbit victory, rabbitELITE team member Allison Mendez-Cleaver won the women’s half marathon in Indianapolis, also securing her spot at the Olympic Trials with her time of 1:12:45.
Just one day later, racing in the TCS New York City Marathon, rabbitPRO Samantha Bluske-Palmer showed her toughness and tactical savvy by running a brilliant race to finish 15th in one of the world’s most competitive fields. True to form, Bluske-Palmer not only showed that she can race with the best in the world, she also had a great time doing it. “I was a few second shy of my PR, but I loved every stinkin’ second of my 2 hours, 32 minutes and 4 seconds on the streets of New York City.”
Not far away, Bluske-Palmer’s rabbitPRO team mate Rachel Schilkowsky found success in her debut marathon, running 2:41:03 to win the Eversource Hartford Marathon, earning not only a $6000 prize purse but also a spot at the Olympic Trials Marathon in 2020.
With their teammates setting the bar high, the rabbits who will be racing at CIM are inspired to deliver. rabbitPROs Curly Guillen, Jarrett LeBlanc and Ryan Miller are all primed for great performances in Sacramento, as are Austin and Cleaver, who will be testing their legs at the full distance. Needless to say, running fans can expect to see a whole lot of rabbits flying down the streets of Atlanta come 2020.
