Road To Gold Champion Brogan Austin with rabbitPRO
teammates Tyler McCandless (4th) and Jarrett LeBlanc (14th)
Last December, rabbitPRO teammates Brogan Austin and Anthony Costales each toed the line at the California International Marathon on a chilly morning in Sacramento. Austin was victorious on that day, capturing the victory, a USATF National Championship and a personal best time of 2:12:39. Costales also had a strong performance but had to settle for a seventh place finish in the race. Last Saturday, Austin and Costales both lined up to compete again, although the two chose different races which meant that, this time, both of them could run to victory.
For Austin, the win came in Atlanta, where he surged away from an elite lead group to capture the title in the Road to Gold 8-mile race. Hosted by the Atlanta Track Club, the one-time event served as a chance for Olympic hopefuls to preview the challenging Olympic Marathon Trials course that runners will face in February 2020. Austin’s time of 38:06 put him more than ten seconds ahead of the second place runner, 2016 Olympian Jared Ward. Reflecting on the race, Austin observed that “It was a great experience to get a feel for the course, temps and overall setting for the 2020 trials…It was a great tune up race for the New York City Half Marathon, where I can hopefully snag a new PR against a great field.”
For Costales, who was racing at the Way Too Cool 50k in Cool, California, winning took a little longer, with a final time of 3:17:19, but was no less sweet. With over 600 finishers, the 2019 edition of the race was the 30th running of Way Too Cool, which long ago cemented its status as one of the most competitive 50ks around. Running in what can only be described as brutally cold and wet conditions, it was Costales’ preparation and gear selection that helped him to survive to the finish. Soaked to the bone from an early river crossing, Costales recalls approaching the 8 mile mark of the race thinking “I knew I needed to change some gear. Frantically, I tried to rip off wet gloves and arm warmers. Luckily, I had an extra pair of arm warmers in my FKT shorts saran-wrapped to stay dry.”
Fresh off his wardrobe change, and encouraged by a conversation with his former college teammate and current rabbitELITEtrail athlete, Gus Gibbs, Costales took control of the race around the 11 mile mark and never looked back. Trailing not too far behind him to finish in second place was Gibbs, followed by another rabbitELITEtrail runner, Jeff Mogavero in third. The trio made for a rabbit sweep of the men’s podium, an achievement that delighted Jill Deering and Monica DeVreese, the co-founders of this California apparel upstart. “Our rabbitPRO team is just something else. Every weekend it seems as though they’ve won another huge race, set a gnarly course record, or performed some other beyond-impressive feat. We just love being a part of each of their inspirational journeys and getting to know them all a little more. This past weekend was another magical one. And watch out, Brogan and Anthony are just getting started!”
2019 Way Too Cool 50k podium sweep
L to R: Gus Gibbs, Anthony Costales, Jeff Mogavero
