Fletcher easily breaks course record in half marathon in Utah
Aaron Fletcher
The former BYU All-American dominated the Altra Top of Utah Half Marathon with a 13.1-mile time of 1 hour, 4 minutes and 6 seconds.
“It was awesome,” Fletcher told the Herald Journal newspaper.
“I was not expecting that. I came in thinking I was going to run 1:06 or so. I thought that was going to be a pretty good effort, and then, I don’t know, about mile six, seven and eight I started dropping 4:40 [miles] and felt good, so I just kept running with it.”
He broke the course record by 24 seconds.
Fletcher, of South High fame, earned All-American honors last year in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and also competed at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
This was his second course record of the summer.
In June, Fletcher won the Timp Trail Marathon in Utah in 3 hours and 7 minutes to break the course record by 23 minutes at the eight-year race that features 5,800 feet of climbing.
In the half marathon, Fletcher took the lead and never looked back.
“I think it was gradual, but really miles 5, 6 and 7 I really started crushing it, and I was caught off guard,” Fletcher told the Herald Journal. “I was running really comfortably, then looked at my watch and I was like, ‘Whoa, that was a really fast mile.’”