West Hartford Runner Qualifies For Olympic Trials

WEST HARTFORD, CT — Hall High School alumnus and current assistant track and cross country coach Everett Hackett has had an amazingly productive past 57 days, a stretch which could possibly see him competing next summer on behalf of his country about 6,200 miles from his native West Hartford.

Hackett placed third in the Hartford Marathon on Oct. 12, covering the 26.2 mile course in a personal best time of 2 hours, 20 minutes, 23 seconds. On Thanksgiving morning, he finished 16th in a field of nearly 10,000 finishers, including some elite Olympic competitors, at the 83rd Manchester Road Race. Ten days later, and nearly 3,000 miles away, he competed in the California International Marathon in Sacramento, with hopes of beating the 2 hour, 19 minute time standard needed to qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials.

Two hours, 18 minutes and 57 seconds later, the 29-year-old had his ticket punched for Feb. 29, 2020 in Atlanta, site of the trials, where he will race for one of three spots on the U.S. men's team for the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan.

In actuality, the marathon will not actually be contested in Tokyo, but instead will take place 500 miles north of the capital city in Sapporo, home of the 1972 Winter Olympics. The change was made to avoid the blistering August heat in Tokyo.

This will be Hackett's second go-round at the Olympic Trials. He placed 87th in the 2016 competition in Los Angeles.

He has earned numerous accolades in his running career. At Hall, he won the 2008 Class L championship in the 3,200 meter run in his senior year, then placed second in the State Open and fifth at the New England Championships. In college at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., he was the 5,000 meter run champion at the 2012 Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A) Championships, and also won the IC4A 8K cross country championship that year. He finished 21st in the 10,000 meter run at the 2013 IC4A, and was named New England Runner Magazine's Connecticut Runner of the Year in 2017.