17 Feb Saucony Marathoner Makes U.S. Olympic Team
Saucony athlete Jared Ward made his first Olympic team with a third place finish at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials race in Los Angeles.
Galen Rupp (2:11:12) and Meb Keflezighi (2:12:20) join Ward (2:13:00) as the three men representing the United States in the 2016 Olympic Marathon in Rio de Janeiro on August 21 after their one-two-three finish in the hottest U.S. Olympic Trials race in history.
Ward, 27, is no stranger to pacing himself through a marathon in the heat of Los Angeles: He claimed the U.S. championship at the L.A. Marathon last March in 2:12:56 in a race-day record heat of 88 degrees. It was a month later that Ward earned his master’s degree at Brigham Young University in statistics with a thesis titled “Optimal Pace Strategy in a Marathon.” At the Trials, he finished only 4 seconds off his personal best marathon time set at the U.S. championship.
“All of us at Saucony congratulate Jared; we are just so excited for him,” said Mark Bossardet, vice president of sports marketing for Saucony. “He knew his preparations were on point. He had the confidence to grab third place at 21 miles and hold on for a podium finish. As a company of runners, we know how hard he’s worked to reach this incredible goal. We congratulate all the members of Team Saucony who competed today and wish the best to the newly-minted 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team.”
Jared Ward: Return to Form, a video highlighting Ward’s running journey, launched this week as part of Saucony’s “Podium Seeker” video series featuring Saucony athletes seeking a spot on the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team.
Ward, of Provo Utah, is the 2015 USATF National Marathon Champion. A recent Brigham Young University graduate, he placed third overall at the Los Angeles Marathon in March, running 2:12:56 to set a personal best in his third career marathon. As the top American finisher at the race, Ward earned his first national title−USATF National Marathon Champion−at any level of the sport. In May, Ward picked up a second USATF championship, winning the 25K River Bank Run in Grand Rapids, Michigan, followed by the USATF 20K Championship in New Haven in September. He was named the 2015 USATF Running Circuit Champion in November.
Ward is coached by two-time Olympic marathoner Ed Eyestone.