Colorado Duo Take NY’s Great Cow Harbor 10K

CABADA, SUVER PREVAIL AT GREAT COW HARBOR 10-K
By Chris Lotsbom, @ChrisLotsbom

NORTHPORT,
N.Y. (20-Sep) — It was a Colorado sweep at today’s Great Cow Harbor
10-K here on Long Island, as Boulder’s Fernando Cabada and Colorado
Springs’s Mattie Suver took the top spots at the event’s 36th edition.
Though they share the same home state, Cabada and Suver earned their
crowns in far different fashion: Cabada a break away title in 29:32.11
and Suver a final sprint clocked in at 33:31.74.

CABADA RUNS AWAY WITH MEN’S TITLE, STOPS TRAFEH STREAK AT FOUR

For
the 31-year-old Cabada, the race began among a group of nine, all
bunched together. As the lead pack wound their way through the opening
downhill mile, most men had their mind focused on four-time champion Mo
Trafeh. Sporting a USA vest, Trafeh tucked himself into the pack,
letting others do the pacing.

When the first move was
eventually made by Matt Llano closing in on the opening mile mark,
nearly everyone responded with ease. Except for Trafeh.

“When
he didn’t really blast from the start I just said ‘ignore it. If he
goes, he goes,'” said Brendan Gregg of the Hansons-Brooks Distance
Project. While Llano kept pushing the pace with Cabada and Gregg in his
slipstream, Trafeh gradually fell back more and more, a consequence of
not being in racing shape. As he would later explain to Race Results
Weekly that he felt off from the mile mark on.

“I came here and
tried to see how my body feels, test my fitness. As you can tell, I am
not in good shape,” he said in a low tone. “It just wasn’t my day. I
know when it’s my day and I know when it’s not my day.” He added:
“Today I could feel my body was not responding.”

Ahead of
Trafeh, the lead group powered up the James Street Hill approaching two
miles, eyes down and arms furiously pumping. It was then that Cabada
–running in his fourth race in as many weekends– took over the lead
from Llano. He would stay in front through halfway, hit in 14:52.

Finding himself all alone meters ahead of Llano and Gregg, Cabada was a bit surprised.

“I
didn’t really mean to make a move, it just kind of happened. It was
instincts,” he said. “I think I’m starting to like running in front.”

Up
and down the hilly course he’d run in the lead, maintaining a
four-second margin over the chasing Gregg through miles four and five.
The gap would only grow as he made the downhill charge towards the
finish adjacent to Northport Harbor.

Crossing the line
comfortably in front in 29:32.11, Cabada was pleased with his
performance. After racing well four weeks in a row, the lanky athlete
revealed his secret.

“I’m not running a marathon so I’m just
running about 30 to 40 minutes a day in between [races]. It’s all about
the races and getting my confidence,” he said. “Now I’m going to step
back, go back to training, and I’m going to be confident in training.”

Seven
seconds behind Cabada came Gregg, 29:39.52, with Llano rounding out the
top three (29:44.43). Trafeh wound up eighth in 31:00.76, his slowest
time in the last five years.

SUVER CAPTURES WOMEN’S TITLE IN FEROCIOUS FINISH

Mattie
Suver’s success in the Empire State continued with a come-from-behind
victory. After Amy Van Alstine, Kellyn Johnson, and Katie DiCamillo
took the race out at a fast clip, the 26-year-old found herself behind,
needing a strong second half to make the podium.

In the thick
of ING New York City Marathon training, Suver had a hard time at first
matching the quick turnover of her fellow competitors. Up front, Van
Alstine had taken over the leading duties from Johnson, pushing and
feeling confident.

“Between mile four and five, I was like ‘I
have to go now or else I’m going to get passed at the end,'” said Van
Alstine. “That was the plan to go since the last mile was downhill.”

Van
Alstine’s plan worked at first, gaining a slight edge on her
compatriots. With a mile to go and in the lead, Van Alstine’s mindset
changed from breaking away to becoming champion.

“In the last mile I was like, ‘I could be the Cow Harbor champ,’ she described. “‘Why not [win], let’s do this!'”

The
only thing standing between Van Alstine and the $3,500 champion’s check
was a hard charging Suver, second at the recent USA 20-K championships.

Shortly
after turning onto Main Street for the final mile, Suver came up on Van
Alstine’s shoulder. They would crest the hill close together.

Not until 100 meters or so remained did Suver make the pass in full sprint mode.

“My
legs were shot, pretty much dead and I was hoping I wouldn’t fall
over,” Suver said with a laugh. At the tape, it would be the closest
race in Great Cow Harbor 10-K history: Suver’s 33:31.74 to Van
Alstine’s 33:33.23.

The win was bittersweet for Suver– excited
to come away with the victory, though feeling sad for Van Alstine, who
gave all she had to lead and fend her off in the final mile.

“I hate when that happens to me so I kind of feel bad about that but she ran a really tough race,” said Suver.

“It’s
unfortunate but I was happy with it,” said Van Alstine, who is
traveling to Providence, R.I., for Sunday’s USA 5-K Road Championships.

Suver’s
win continues her great streak in New York. In June, she was fourth
overall and the top American at the Oakley New York Mini 10-K.

“I’m liking New York so far,” she said with a bubbly laugh. “Hopefully I can keep the good luck going” for November’s Marathon.

Behind
Suver and Van Alstine came Johnson in 33:42.65, followed by Katie
DiCamillo and Wendy Thomas. Finishing in the top ten for the eighth
straight year was Alisha Williams, taking sixth. DiCamillo and Williams
are also running the ING New York City Marathon; Thomas is running Twin
Cities.

For ten years, the Great Cow Harbor 10-K has only
awarded American prize money, something for which Elite Athlete
Recruiter Will Fodor said the race prides itself on.

“We are
committed to developing American distance running,” said Fodor. Past
champions of the event include Olympians Ryan Hall, Anthony
Famiglietti, Colleen De Reuck, Magdalena Lewy Boulet, and Janet Bawcom.
Former marathon world record holder Khalid Khannouchi was the 1994
champion before becoming an American citizen.

PHOTO: Fernando Cabada wins the 2013 Cow Harbor 10-K in 29:32.11