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Ladd Brothers Challenge Field in NCT Marathon

11/29/2010

A friendly race between coaching staff members Aaron and Lowell Ladd took place in the Northern Central Trail Marathon in Sparks, MD on November 27th and the result was a personal best for one brother and a victory for the other.

This marathon, which was the eighth for Aaron and thirteenth for Lowell, marked the first time that the two brothers had raced one another at any distance. A pack of four runners formed early, with the Ladds along with Daniel Yi and Chuck Engle. The race was a collaborative effort for most of the way, with the two sharing pacing duties at close to 6:00 mile pace through the half marathon while Yi caught the two and dropped off the pace several times on the outbound portion of the out-and-back course.. Just before the eighteen mile mark, Yi caught the two runners and accelerated past them. The move split up the brothers as Lowell gave chase and passed Yi just before the 20 mile mark.

Lowell was able to run a negative split effort and finished in 2:34:45, over three minutes ahead of Yi. The race marked the second victory in less than two weeks for Lowell, who won the Harrisburg Marathon 13 days earlier. Aaron held onto third position at the finish, and was able to beat 2007 race winner Chuck Engle. Aaron's time of 2:41:15 was a personal best despite strong gusty winds throughout the race.