Jared Ward Appreciation Thread

Props to Ward. Humbly and quietly working his way up through the ranks for a couple years. Dropping the times and punching tickets through LA to Rio.

6th is a huge accomplishment.

I'd love to see him drop under 2:10 next year and set a new paradigm behind Rupp for the next wave of post-Meb/Abdi/Ritz/Hall/etc. USA marathoners

He just kinda does his own thing and doesn't let the rest of the field dictate his pace and race. Really happy for him!

FeartheStache wrote:

He just kinda does his own thing and doesn't let the rest of the field dictate his pace and race. Really happy for him!

what? he ran with the field for like 20 miles today. fell off and then clawed his way back as others faded.

Rupp couldn't even hi five his countryman for a 6th place finish? What does Rupp have against mustaches?

He seems like an everyman who can nevertheless kick serious ass and hang with the best. Strong, consistent improvement. Would be cool to seem him keep the improvements coming over the next cycle.

reed wrote:

FeartheStache wrote:

He just kinda does his own thing and doesn't let the rest of the field dictate his pace and race. Really happy for him!

what? he ran with the field for like 20 miles today. fell off and then clawed his way back as others faded.

I was watching him very closely because I'm a huge fan and your statement isn't entirely accurate. While he was near the lead group for the first 20 miles, he definitely would let them go from time to time whenever a surge would get thrown in. Several times I thought he was falling off pace, but apparently he knew what he was doing and was just keeping his own pace going. Very smart race on his part.

GoWard wrote:

He seems like an everyman who can nevertheless kick serious ass and hang with the best. Strong, consistent improvement. Would be cool to seem him keep the improvements coming over the next cycle.

podium finisher for top team (BYU) at ncaa's... perennial us championship favorite... not really.

He was great as Napoleon Dynamite's brother...

What a fantastic overachievement when it really counts. So happy for this guy.

I really like Ward, and was thrilled to see him race this well. I agree with others, I think we can see him go sub-2:10. Especially if he can get a good, relatively quick race in some cooler fall or spring conditions.

Jared actually ran negative splits (1:05:59 / 1:05:31). Just what you would expect from a Statistics professor that wrote his masters thesis on proper pacing for the marathon. He knew what his training had prepared him to run and didn't go with the surge when it took place. This was the same strategy that secured his spot on the Olympic Team.

Great job, great guy!

Blue collar.

100% Blue collar.

ultimate lrc compliment wrote:

Blue collar.

100% Blue collar.

66% approval rating from homosexuals as well. Take it how you can get it.

Yes, a smart guy who reminds me a bit of someone from my era, Pete Pfitzinger. You could see his strategy from early on, and I anticipated his plan to pick off runners who fell off the pace in the final miles. 6th place is a great achievement, obviously.

Pfitzinger and Ward's coach Ed Eyestone both qualified for the 1988 US marathon team in a race that I also ran (not as one of the contestants for the team, they got to start a couple of minutes before the ordinary folk), so I've followed their careers since then, and this is a high point for Eyestone and Ward, obviously.

Eyestone is also a heck of a coach. Fantastic work by both.

seems like a good dude.

Went up to Rupp and told him that he was proud of him right after he finished and saw the results

Outstanding performance to finish 6th. No one would have predicted that.