Josh Moen (Mizuno/Team USA Minnesota) finished 2nd in a big PB of 1:16:09 at this morning’s US 25K Men’s Championships in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Team USA Minnesota reported that Josh and defending champ and teammate Andrew Carlson went out with the leaders and were still with a front pack of five runners at mile 7.  At that point, the lead pack was reduced to three, with Moen and Carlson staying in contention until mile 12 when the eventual winner (Fernando Cabada) made a surge and separated himself from the two Team USA Minnesota runners. Cabada went on to win in 1:15:41. “The race went pretty well for me,” said Josh via a Team USA Minnesota e-mail release.  “The first few miles people were relaxed and the pace was sporadic, anywhere from 4:40 to 5 minutes (the opening mile was run in 4:39).  By the seventh mile, three of us worked together to pull away from the other two runners in the lead pack.  At mile eleven in the rolling hills, Andrew put a gap on me, but I caught him and just pushed hard to put a little distance between us. With two miles to go, the monkey jumped on my back and I was worried Andrew was going to catch me.  It wasn’t until the last quarter of a mile that I knew I was in the clear to take second place.  I wanted to win this race but I think I ran pretty smart.  I was in it the whole time.” This is the third straight strong run for Josh in the past month. On April 23rd, he finished as top American (8th overall) in the hot and humid Crescent City Classic 10K in 29:38. Then on May 1st at the Lilac Bloomsday Run (12K), he came top American again (10th overall) with a nice 35:21 run, kicking home in two-minutes flat for the final 800m. Next up, Josh will go after the ever-elusive 300 perfect score at the post-race bowling party to be hosted this evening by Greg Meyer.