Between hours of practice bleeding into one another as runners take step after exhausting step, a singular goal dangles in front of them like an elusive, eternal-glory-bringing carrot: a shot at the 2024 Olympics.
Only 150 runners in the country are chosen to partake in the U.S. Olympic Team Marathon Trials in Orlando on Feb. 3, and several are from around the Denver metro area. Only three will be chosen for the Olympics from the 150 who qualified for the trial run.
We counted eight different runners from the Colorado Community Media coverage area. Though we could only speak with a few of them, meet all your local runners below.
Garret Lee
For Lee, a strong high school athlete at Heritage High School, his tunnel-vision approach to the Olympics sparked a second wind in his love for running.
“I think I always loved running, but I took a little break,” said Lee, who didn’t run in college at the University of Denver. “Once I graduated college and started working, running kind of became my main reprieve. In college, I liked to play intramural sports. But I found once I graduated and everyone was working, it was much more difficult to get groups together to play sports. I found that running every day was a better outlet for me.”
Lee finished in fifth place at the 2010 5A cross country state championships for Heritage, which finished second as a team that year.
He also finished 10th place in the 2011 5A track 3200-meter run.
“I’ve always been pretty good at running, so I think once I jumped into running marathons, it became a bit of a calling to try and make the Olympic trials,” Lee said.
It’s been Lee’s focus for the last four years, he said.
To qualify, runners have to run a marathon in two hours and 17 minutes or less during a 23-month qualifying period. Lee just made it with a time of 2:16:57 in the 2023 Grandma’s Marathon in Minnesota. His goal is to finish in the top 30 in Orlando.
Connor Winter
Winter was a decorated high school runner for Arapahoe High School. In 2010, Winter was a 5A state champion in the 800-meter, 1600-meter and 3200-meter runs. In 2011, Winter returned for a sweep in all three categories to become a two-time state champion.
He also finished second in the state in 5A cross country in 2010. But he knows it’s a very different ballgame now.
“It is humbling. Anytime you go from the best in high school to even college at CU, when my teammate is lapping me on the first day of practice, it’s tough,” Winter said. “Now going from college to professional runners, I know it just gets even harder. But it’s always you versus yourself.”
Winter qualified with a time of 2:15:51 at the 2023 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. It was a big full-circle moment for Winter, who tore his Achilles while training for the Olympic trials in 2021.
It’s been two years of recovery and training, but he’s now back to running 100+ miles per week. If he finishes in the top three in Orlando, he said he’ll take a week off running and spend time with his family.
Scott Fauble
Fauble is one of the more famous and trophied runners in the entire poll of 150 participants. For one thing, he finished fourth in the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials; just one spot short of being selected to represent Team USA.
He was also the top American finisher in each of the last three Boston Marathons, finishing seventh place in each one. His qualifying time for 2024 was 2:08:52 in the 2022 Boston Marathon.
Fauble is a Nike athlete and released a book called “Inside A Marathon,” which recorded Fauble and his longtime former coach Ben Rosario during their training regimen leading up to the TCS New York City Marathon in 2018.
After multiple championships and records for the Wheat Ridge Farmers, Fauble was a multiple-time All-American, All-Region and All-Conference selection in cross country and track for the University of Portland. Click here for more accolades.
Tyler Pennel
This Golden High School graduate qualified with a time of 2:12:16 in the 2023 Chevron Houston Marathon.
After a strong high school career in which Pennel was selected as an All-Conference cross country and track runner and All-State in the 3200-meter in track, he attended Western Colorado University in Gunnison.
Pennel’s accolades include being crowned the 2014 USATF Marathon Champion.
Ian Butler
Butler is a Green Mountain High School graduate who still lives in Lakewood. His qualifying time was 2:14:48 in the 2022 Boston Marathon, but his personal best marathon time is 2:09:45.
Butler famously overcame two brain injuries to become an All-American runner in the early 2010s. He also attended Western Colorado University and racked up accolades which can be found here.
Connor Weaver
Weaver’s hometown is Parker but he attended Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch before running cross country at BYU.
He qualified with a time of 2:15:46 in the 2022 Grandma’s Marathon. According to his BYU cross country profile, Weaver:
- Received All-Academic honors all four years in high school
- Was named to the All-State team in track for the 1600m and 3200m
- Led cross country team to two state championships
- Was named cross country and track and field team captain
- Was a two-time national champion in Olympic distance triathlon
- Was an All-State cross country runner
- Was a Nike cross country All-Region athlete
- Was a three-time national champion triathlete
Weaver was also a member of the only national championship cross country team at BYU in 2019.
Ben Payne
Payne currently lives in Colorado Springs but is from Arvada. He cut his teeth as a runner at Faith Christian High School and qualified with a time of 2:17:15 at the 2023 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
As a pilot, Payne works for Southwest Airlines and flies for the Colorado Air National Guard.
This will be Payne’s third Olympic trial after trying in 2016 and 2020. He finished 17th and 31st in the previous trials, respectively. Career highlights include finishing ninth at the 2016 New York City Marathon.
Paxton Smith
Smith is now an eighth-grade English teacher in Miami, but he’s from Highlands Ranch and ran at Mountain Vista High School. He qualified with a time of 2:17:24 at the 2022 Grandma’s Marathon.
Smith’s list of accolades in both high school and for the Colorado University Buffaloes is too long to list here but can be found at this link.
For the Buffs, Smith ran for two cross country Pac-12 Championship teams in 2019 and 2021. He is the youngest runner on this list at 25.
Colorado camaraderie
Both Lee and Winter said they know the strength of athletes and runners in Colorado, and not just from training at 5,280 feet up. There’s a sense of support and brotherhood that comes from growing up here together.
“The altitude certainly helps when traveling to sea level. Most of the big races in the USA like the New York Marathon or Chicago Marathon don’t have quite the humidity of Florida, so this training block has been a little bit different than others. Little things like extra treadmill runs, saunas after running and hot baths just to prepare for Florida’s humidity are something I normally don’t do.“
Garret Lee
“It is special to be able to train in some of the best locations and with great runners who call Colorado home,” Winter said. “I have learned so much from my high school coaches and then at CU that have shaped me into the tough runner I am today. My goal is to continue to perform at a high level and inspire the next generation of Colorado runners to do even better.”
They admitted they lean on each other for training, discipline, friendship and strength. Waking up to run 20 miles alone for training could seem almost impossible, Lee said.
But with Winter ready to tackle it with him, it becomes not just possible, but something to be conquered.
“Above all else though, the community of runners in Colorado is what inspires such great performances from Colorado athletes,” Lee said. “There are always people to run with and friends to help get you out the door. We all root for each other and together we can go further than we could alone. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
For more information about the 2024 Olympic Trials in Orlando, including how to watch your locals in the race, visit www.orlando2024trials.com.