Moen eyes title at his last Cedar Rapids 8k

CEDAR RAPIDS - After spending most of his adult life as a professional runner, Wartburg alum Josh Moen is hanging up his running shoes at the end of this summer. On Wednesday he will take one last crack at the Alliant Energy 8K in Cedar Rapids.

Moen grew up in Fairbank, Iowa, and eventually moved on to Wartburg College in Waverly, where he became a 10-time D-III All-American and five-time D-III national champion. Upon graduation he started running professionally with great success.

Moen ran in the USA Championships several times, the highlights of which include a second-place finish in the 2011 25K Championships and a second-place finish in the 2009 9 Mile Championships.

Other career notes include being a three-time member of the U.S. Chiba Ekiden Team, which runs at the International Chiba Ekiden competition every year in Japan. Moen also holds the fifth fastest 10-mile time in U.S. history of 46:38.

Moen's last race in Iowa was in 2010 at the U.S.A Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, where he placed 14th in the 10K with a time of 29:52.

Moen currently resides in Eden Prairie, Minn., where he manages TC Running Company. It's his job as manager that is driving him to end his professional running career.

“It's time to move on. Work is taking over, I'm staying very busy at TC. Of course, running will still be a hobby, but I'm done professionally.”

As for this week's race in Cedar Rapids, Moen isn't sure what to expect. “I ran here back in 2006, but that was with the old course. This new one, I haven't heard a lot about it. I was able to look at some photos of it online, but all I really gathered was that it's extremely flat. I hope to get out on the course the day before and morning of the race to check it out.”

“My main focus is going to be on the weather. I know it's been really hot here the last week or two and the race day will probably be no different. The big questions are how am I going to handle the heat, and how am I going to make adjustments to deal with it?”

The Alliant Energy 8K starts at 7 a.m. on Wednesday in downtown Cedar Rapids.