As part of the Freedom Fest activities yesterday in Provo they held a 5k/10k that had quite a few BYU-affiliated runners participate.

A few highlights taken from John Hedengren’s interviews (link below):

1. Current BYU runner, Isaac Hedengren, won the 5k in 14:30. His fitness level today compared to 12 months ago when he was coming off a mission is night and day. During the Track season he ran a 13:46 5000m, and he is looking to take a step forward in Cross.

Isaac is in his third week of training for Cross-Country. He’s just doing a mileage build, no speed work for now. Everything from now until November (NCAA championships) is irrelevant.

2. Josiah Tostenson, a soon-to-be Senior in high school in Crater, Oregon, took 3rd in the 5k with a 14:59. I don’t think he’s LDS, and I’m not sure if BYU is actively recruiting him. He is the current high school teammate of LDS BYU recruit Tayvon Kitchen and past teammate of LDS runner Tyrone Gorze (now at University of Washington). Josiah. Is a 4:02 Miler and 8:39 3200m runner.

As far as what he’s looking for in a college he wants:

“A great coach. A great facility. I want a team that can push me to the next level. And from there, I’m just looking for good relationships. I’m looking to go to a team where I have great relationships with all the guys.

3. Former UVU runner, Habtamu Cheney, won the 10k in 29:25. He trains under Ed Eyestone with Conner Mantz and Clayton Young. He actually finished 22nd in the recent Olympic Trials for the marathon.

He is an unsponsored athlete and has a full-time job. He has had offers to join and train with other professional training groups but for the next 12 months he is staying put in Provo because it is an ideal situation for marathon training. He is two weeks in to his 16 week training block for the Chicago Marathon.

4. Dalton Mortensen currently runs for BYU and finished in 5th place for the 10k. Recently ran a 1:04 half marathon and finished this race in 30:20, which is an altitude-adjusted 29:25 (a PR). In high school he ran 80 miles a week. He’s now running 100+ miles a week. He runs high mileage mainly because he likes to run twice a day.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=Dp93bpcCpg0kwcPG&v=0leh4vQJ5ko&feature=youtu.be