Jared Ward Looks to Follow Up on Sixth Place Finish at 2018 New York City Marathon

By Adam Kopet

Jared Ward brings big time experience with him to the 123rd Boston Marathon. He has two -top-six finishes in major marathons, finishing sixth at the 2016 Olympics and at the 2018 New York City Marathon.

Since graduating from BYU in 2014, Ward has become one of the top marathoners in the U.S. He finished runner-up at the 2014 USATF Marathon Championships in his marathon debut. Then in 2015, Ward placed third at the Los Angeles Marathon, running 2:12:56.

However, it was Ward's performances in 2016 that cemented himself among the nation's elite. It started with a third place finish at the 2016 Olympic Trials Marathon, held in Los Angeles. That qualified him for his first Olympics. In Rio, Ward ran the race of his life, finishing sixth in a personal best 2:11:30.

More recently, Ward finished sixth at the 2018 New York City Marathon, running 2:12:24. He was the top American in the race.

Ward has kept himself busy since his New York City Marathon performance. In addition to training for Boston and teaching statistics at BYU as an adjunct professor, he and his wife Erica have added a sixth member to their family.

Wow.
Magnolia Jaye Ward
7 lb. 3 oz.
20 in
21 Jan 2019 pic.twitter.com/ctg4vOIUkW

— Jared Ward (@jwardy21) January 25, 2019

It does not appear keeping himself busy has hurt Ward's race performances so far this year. He finished runner-up at the Road to Gold race hosted by the Atlanta Track Club on the final miles of the 2020 Olympic Trials Marathon course. He also finished fourth at the United Airlines NYC Half, running 1:02:33.

With the next Olympics on the horizon, Ward still has a running goal he wants to fulfill. He wants to break 2:10 in the marathon.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

Into the new year! Setting some goals and evaluating some of last year's. I didn't achieve my marathon time goal of sub 2:10. In fact, I missed it by nearly two and a half minutes. But I'm pleased with my NYC Marathon achievement. I ran well on injury-limited training. And what a fun place to race. Applications for 2019 @nycmarathon are open now. Now I'm healthy, 13 weeks from Boston, and hoping for a great year in many ways. Wife is due with child number 4 in a week, kids are playing in chess tournaments and soccer games. I'm living the dream! #RunYourWorld And these new @saucony #TriumphISO5 are pretty plush... ( Link in bio)

A post shared by Jared Ward (@jwardy21) on Jan 14, 2019 at 3:09pm PST

Could that happen in Boston? The changing weather forecast may or may not help, but if the conditions cooperate, Ward could not only find himself as the top American, but another member of the sub-2:10 club.