For 2016 Olympic marathon runner Jared Ward, the Deseret News 10K is a training run — but that doesn’t stop him from being competitive.
With a time of 28:04 and a 4:31 mile pace, Ward claimed first place at the men’s event Friday morning.
“As a professional athlete racing all over the world, I just don’t get that many opportunities to run races in Utah,” he told the Deseret News after the race. “But this one has always fit really well.
“It’s an incredible opportunity to work on late summer speed and they get a great field out — sometimes people from across the nation — and it certainly brings out Utah’s best. I’ve always felt so fortunate to have a race such a high-caliber race right in my backyard."
It wasn’t Ward’s first time claiming the top spot at the podium in this particular race. His most recent win came in 2023 with a time of 27:58.
Ward led the pack in Mile 1 before falling to second in Mile 2 and reclaiming the lead in Mile 3. He led from there on out, taking first place by 27 seconds.
The 37-year-old was followed by the 2023 Deseret News Marathon winner, 31-year-old Michael Ottesen (28:31), and 29-year-old Spencer Brown (28:36).
Ward placed sixth in the men’s marathon at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He has also placed as high as seventh at the World Championships representing Team USA.
Despite early-morning start time, Ward said it seemed warmer and more humid than any of the other times he’s run the race as Utah has experienced record-breaking heat this summer.
The Davis High School product ran at BYU from 2010-2013, where he studied statistics. He went on to earn an MBA from the University of Oxford, and he now teaches as an adjunct professor in BYU’s statistics department.
Ward’s advice to those who aspire to greatness is to just keep going.
“You know, I remember running this race senior year of high school in my old-school racing flats and just torching my legs, and really just pleased to be out racing some of Utah’s best,” he recalled. “And so, you just keep keep putting yourself in it, keep having fun with it.”
For complete race results, click here.