How to Sweep the USA National 25K Road Championships

Team USA Arizona and McMillan Elite's Ten Easy Steps to Successfully Sweeping a National Championship:

Last weekend Andrew Carlson, Brett Gotcher and Nick Arciniaga placed first, second and third respectively at the 2010 USA National 25 Kilometer Road Championships in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

River Bank Run race results can be found here. 

Here's a step-by-step synopsis on they got there...

Step One:  Listen to your Coach (Greg McMillan, with back to camera, explains the goals of the day.)

Step Two:  Train hard with your Teammates on Flagstaff's Lake Mary Road (LMR) at 7,000 feet. (Nick Arciniaga, left and Andrew Carlson get after it.)

Have a great tempo workout on LMR...

...Or a not-so-good workout on LMR.

Thusly resulting in cutting off the prized mullet.

Step Two Continued:  Train hard with Teammates on the track in Sedona.  (Martin Fagan and Brett Gotcher hit the red roundy-round.)

Step One Revisited:  Listen to your Coach again while he BBQ's under the shadow of Mt. Humphrey's.

Step 1A:  Emulate aforementioned Coach and chow-down. (photo by Tracy McMillan)

Step Three:  Enjoy the BBQ's finished products with entire Team.

Step Four:  Run with Teammates in a strong pack.  Step 4A:  Surge insanely when foolish competitor angers you by spilling water on your shoes at an aid station.  Step 4B:  Teammates are the only ones crazy enough to match said surge. (photo by Chris Clark, Grand Rapids Press)

Step Five:  Revel in a 1, 2, 3 sweep and victorious finish at the USA National 25K Championships. (photo by Rex Larsen, Grand Rapids Press) (l to r:  Arciniaga, Gotcher and Carlson post-race)

A Video of the Race can be found here.

Step Six:  Re-hydrate by double fisting it.  (Carlson can't make up his mind, eventually he settles on the beer.)

Step 7:  Re-fuel with monster nachos...chili topping optional. (Carlson, left, and Gotcher down the largest plate of nachos in Flagstaff.)

Step 7 continued:  ...Or sliders and fries.  (Looking good Nick)

Step 8:  Share the Victory with a Team celebratory dinner.

Step 9:  Consider thoughtfully the next race and next opportunity to inspire and impress!

(Brett, left, and Jordan Horn contemplate Horn's USA National Mile Road Championship Race in a few days.)

Step 10:  Repeat steps one through nine.  Easy, right?