New Zealand’s Matt Baxter, North Dakota’s Maddie Van Beek win 11th annual EQT Pittsburgh 10-miler races

New Zealand’s Matt Baxter was looking for a race that would be a good test for him as he ramps up his marathon training. When looking at the schedule, Baxter decided to participate in the 11th running of the EQT Pittsburgh 10-miler.

Even though Baxter, 29, of HOKA Northern Arizona Elite was a little caught off guard by Pittsburgh’s terrain, he tapped into his training and navigated the course’s rolling hills by taking first-place with a time of 47 minutes, 54 seconds.

“The biggest thing with this race was I wanted to get in a good, hearty fit before doing a marathon in December. That was the goal and I feel like I accomplished that,” Baxter said.

“The course was harder than I thought. Coming in here, it seemed like the city was flatter than the course entailed. I was a little surprised by how much it rolled but also I feel like I really enjoy cross country. I think I do very well over the hills. I used those to my advantage a little bit.”

Baxter, a Flagstaff, Ariz. resident, outpaced Alejandro Ambrosio, 26, of Boulder, Colo. (48:15) and Dylan Gearinger of Philadelphia (48:28).

Ambrosio was the runner-up for the second year in a row after finishing in 50:07 last year just behind Gearinger’s winning time of 49:02.

Alex Archer, 29, and Juris Silenieks, 30, of the Pittsburgh Track Club finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Archer finished in 50:44, while Silenieks crossed at 52:30.

In the women’s race, North Dakota’s Maddie Van Beek crossed the finish line with a sub-one hour time of 59:01 to take home the title.

Van Beek, a Fargo, N.D. native, is no stranger to running races in Pittsburgh as she previously run the same race in 2016 as well as running in the half marathon last April.

However, Van Beek wasn’t sure if she would even participate in the race as her husband has been dealing with health issues in recent weeks. In the end, Van Beek decided to run and run for a purpose.

“Today when it got really hard, I was really thinking of him every mile and the reason why I was running and pushing through was for him. I felt like I was running for something a lot bigger than myself,” Van Beek said.

Around the seventh mile, Van Beek had to stop for about 30 seconds to throw up and gather herself. Unaware if any of her competitors passed her, Van Beek continued to run as about 5,000 participants in the 10-mile run enjoyed a sunny, cold November morning in Pittsburgh.

“Honestly, I’m so bad at remembering courses. I can look at a course map but it doesn’t matter. I just go out and run,” Van Beek said.

“I heard about the course changes and everyone was telling me about the differences from the last time I ran it to now, but to be honest I wouldn’t be able to tell you the difference. It’s definitely hilly and I was prepared for the first seven miles to be somewhat tough just with the ups and downs.”

Van Beek outpaced Joanna Thompson, 31, of Kings County, N.Y. (59:27) and Pittsburgh’s Jen Bigham, 42, (59:53). Bighamn finished fifth in last year’s race with a time of 1:01:47.

Baxter and Van Beek both earned $2,500 for taking the top spots in their race.

The 10-mile road race began at Station Square near Highmark Stadium weaving through Pittsburgh’s West End, past Acrisure Stadium and PNC Park, through the North Side, across the David McCullough Bridge and into the Strip District.

“The big thing was to have a good, steady rhythm and try to pick it up over the last few miles. I think I got moving pretty well and I’m happy with how things turned out,” Baxter said.

“The course was awesome. They had lots of great crowd support, especially when we came by the 10K crew, who hadn’t started yet with all their screaming and shouting. It was a great race.”