Leading up to the February 13th U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, FloTrack will highlight the storylines of the contenders on both the men's and women's side.

Jared Ward: The Real Deal

Name: Jared Ward

Age: 27

Hometown: Kaysville, UT

Marathon PR: 2:12:56 (Los Angeles 2015)

Best Trials Qualifier: 2:12:56 (Los Angeles 2015)

Previous Trials Results: N/A

Our Take: The former BYU All-American didn’t wait long to transition to the marathon, in fact Ward actually made his debut back in 2013 while still in college as the NCAA had ruled him ineligible for a period. The 27-year-old has improved on his 2:16 debut in each of his two 26.2 outings since then, with his 2:12:56 in Los Angeles last March— tops among Americans in that field— making him a dark horse top-3 contender for next weekend’s Trials. Most likely he’ll have to cut off a couple minutes to do so, but it’s not inconceivable noting his steady progression of 2:16-2:14-2:12. His negative split in LA also suggests that he’s ready to keep the PR train rolling on February 13th. 

Outside of his marathon PR, 2015 was an outstanding year for Ward on the roads, most notably with his U.S. 20k title in September over three of the Trials’ biggest names: Sam Chelanga, Dathan Ritzenhein, and Luke Puskedra. Again, don’t let the 2:12 PR fool you. Ward is the real deal.

Make no mistake, it’s going to take the race of his life—and most likely an off day from at least one of the trio of Meb, Dathan, and Rupp— for Ward to become an Olympian next Saturday, but all indications suggest that he’ll still be in the mix come crunch time. At that point, anything can happen.

Below, Ward answered three questions leading up to the big race.

Give us the details of your best workout

Hard to say. A favorite is 5 by 2 mile with 3 min rest on the road. We did this last week and I averaged 9:15.

What do you need to do on race day to make the team?

I just need to bring my best race. If that puts me on the team then great. If others run better, then great for them. You never know how things have gone for others, but my training has gone well. That's all I can control.

What’s been your biggest obstacle to overcome in your Trials prep?

Training has always been a game of managing my time well. With kids, a teaching job, and active involvement in my church, I have to pay special attention to making sure I'm allotting adequate time to taking care of my recovery. Sleep, massage, stretching and rolling out easily take a back seat unless I make them a priority. Having a wife that is a talented massage therapist helps, but I have to consciously make time to have her work on me.