Without much fanfare, Utah has emerged as a per-capita standout in distance running. For a state with a population just under 3 million, Utah regularly produces strong teams and individual runners at the NXN and Footlocker national cross country championships at the high school level, competitive collegians, and a surprising number of postcollegiate standouts. This isn\u2019t entirely surprising: if you give 3 million people the chance to live and train at altitude year-round, good things can happen.<\/p>\n
This being Utah, not all of the distance running stars are LDS, but, this being Utah, a lot of them are. There is probably some kind of connection between Mormon belief and success in distance running as well, as the success of some non-Utahn<\/a> Mormons <\/a>suggests. Ideology can play an important role in athletic training, as the unmatched success of Bill Aris<\/a> (embracing a different but highly effective philosophy in his training program) at Fayetteville-Manlius High School in New York shows. Not every human endeavor is a great match for a prototypical Mormon lifestyle or outlook, but distance running seems to be one of them. Perhaps you will not be saved by persistent effort and a commitment to personal improvement, but it will get you to your next PR.<\/p>\n Now that a few of my kids have taken an interest in running, it turns out to be very helpful to be able to point to members of the church who excel in the same activity. It\u2019s useful to be able to say, \u201cSee Jared Ward, who just made the US Olympic team in the marathon trials last month? He just finished a master\u2019s degree in statistics at BYU.\u201d<\/p>\n