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Gavin
Coombs of Griswold, CT gets ready for the two-mile,
the event which drew us to this meet.
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Ahmed
Haji of West Hartford, CT was the other CT favorite
in the star-studded race.
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With
19 runners trying to run the shortest distance possible,
the start of the race...
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...was
very physical and ended up being one of the most crucial
moments in the race.
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Gavin
Coombs was one of the runners who got pushed around
a lot, and someone...
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...inadvertently
stepped on the back of his shoe about 20 meters into
the race.
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Coombs'
shoe fell off shortly after, but he kept on running.
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Victor
Gras of Belmont High School (MA), a two-time Foot
Locker finalist, was one of the favorites.
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Coombs
runs at the front of the race with only one shoe.
We spend a lot of time kneeling on tracks, so we can...
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...say
with certainty that the Trinity track is one of the
rougher ones out there and must have torn up Coombs'
foot pretty badly.
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Coombs
was clearly the crowd favorite, and many of the spectators
expressed their...
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...disappointment
as soon as he lost his shoe. They still had one strong
CT contender in Haji, though.
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Gras
led early on, with Coombs just off his shoulder and
a handful of runners right behind.
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R-L:
Chris Barnicle (Newton North, MA), Haji, Michael Banks
(Wachusett, MA), and Christo Landry (Thomas Jefferson,
VA).
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As
they approached the halfway point, Chris Barnicle
moved up to a more central spot.
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Michael
Banks would finish seventh in 9:05.67.
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With
three laps to go, Gras pushes the pace with Barnicle
and Landry trailing.
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Chris
Spooner of Lewisburg (PA) would finish fourth in 8:56.56.
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Coombs
started to drop back with three laps to go. It was
pretty amazing that he had stayed near the front so
long wearing one shoe.
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David
Metzger (11th, 9:23.52) leads Shane Young (16th, 9:38.36).
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