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Formula Won: New Training, Nutrition Regimen Powers Aaron Metler to Fourth St. George Marathon Triumph
FORMULA Won
New Training, Nutrition Regimen Powers Aaron Metler to Fourth St. George Marathon Triumph
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Aaron Metler never made it onto his collegiate varsity running team. In his first three years at the University of Michigan, he wasn’t fast enough to secure a berth. By the time he was a senior, he’d aged out of eligibility for one of the coveted spots on the team.
Though Metler’s athletic achievements don’t appear in the Wolverines’ record books, his legacy here in southern Utah is assured: in the forty-five year history of the St. George Marathon, he’s the only “local” to have crossed the finish line first. Even more significantly, he’s the only competitor who’s broken the tape four times.
Growing up in Detroit, running wasn’t yet on Metler’s radar screen. His passion for soccer, baseball, and basketball afforded ample opportunities to sprint around fields and courts. But at five feet tall and seventy-five pounds in high school, he didn’t seem destined to wear a letterman sweater. “I loved sports; starting with youth soccer, I was always outside playing,” Metler recalled. “My dad was a big tennis player and hoped we’d play too. That wasn’t exactly what happened.”
Metler entered UMich with the goal of earning a degree in sports management. In his senior year, he made a serious attempt to become a varsity runner. “The cut was doing a four-mile run in under twenty-one minutes. I did it, and I beat more than half of the team. But the coach only wanted freshmen and sophomores he could develop. He said, ‘You’re a good runner, but you can’t be on the team,’” Metler said, laughing.
With no varsity singlet forthcoming, Metler launched a collegiate running club on campus. In short order, the group was competing against—and besting—the
varsity squad. By the time Metler graduated in 2006, more than fifty schools across the U.S. were emulating the UMich club model. Metler reported that the National Intercollegiate Running Club Association (NIRCA) now boasts hundreds of member colleges and universities and hosts an annual Fall Race Series and the NIRCA Championship Series, drawing thousands of student athletes.
Said Metler, “My name is in there somewhere in the club’s history books as ‘that old guy’ who got things started. There were no restrictions; everyone was welcome, from beginners to elites.”
Though Metler is himself one of the Southwest’s most elite runners, he brings the same egalitarian aesthetic to his role with the St. George Race Department. Recently promoted to Recreation Manager of Races & Events, Metler now oversees the race that has shaped his life since he arrived here in 2008. “I originally applied for a nine-month internship at nine dollars an hour,” Metler explained. “After three months, I got a full-time job with Races, and fourteen years later, here I am.”
Prior to his move to St. George, Metler had no interest in distance running. But his Detroit friends convinced him to do a half marathon in Jacksonville, Florida. The experience was brutal. Battling 100 percent humidity, Metler could barely breathe let alone run at full speed. While he managed to eke out a top-five finish, he swore he’d never repeat the agony.
The universe, of course, had other ideas. As a St. George Races staffer, Metler witnessed the zeal that his colleagues brought to the task of putting on the marathon and other contests throughout the year. The community’s support of the signature event was equally alluring, he said. “It was amazing to see how the town really rallied around the marathon; it’s like the Superbowl in St. George. Being on the organizing team, I saw what the winners’ times were, and I started to think that maybe I could be competitive.”
Accordingly, in 2010, Metler began to research the training regimen of elite runners. Deeming his fifty-mile weekly running routine inadequate, he added late afternoon ten-milers to his schedule, traversing the trails in the most extreme heat of each day. He also switched up his diet, eschewing all but organic foods and consuming gallons of liquids.
“Aaron is a remarkable, hard-working, precision beast of an athlete. His personality is laid back and so much fun, but don’t let that deceive you; his dedication to diet, fitness, and the sport of running is second to none. His mental strength and consistency are also off the charts,” said his manager, Michelle Graves, Deputy Director of Arts & Events for the City of St. George.
By race day, Metler was more than prepared to conquer the 26.2mile course and the elements. Taking the lead at mile seven, he never looked back. (If he had, he’d have seen the top two contenders dropping out with heat exhaustion as the thermometer crested ninety-eight degrees.) With legs cramping and every muscle screaming, Metler finished first, posting a time of 2:22:08. “It was one of the hottest days ever for the marathon,” he noted. “But I’d been out there every day for months in that heat, so that really helped me.”
Photo Page 18: First place win, 2010.
Far Left: First place win, 2021.
Left: Aaron and wife Robyn.
Continued from Page 19
Metler went on to “three-peat” in 2014 and 2015. In subsequent years, he continued to shave a second or two off his times. But his competitors were also getting faster; marathon victory was to evade him for five years. Last year, hoping for an unprecedented fourth win, Metler once again set out to shake things up. This time, he and his wife Robin—who will earn a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health this spring—pledged to consume only home-prepared foods, use only the freshest ingredients, and avoid all dairy products and bread. Increased fluid intake, thrice-weekly weight-training sessions, a new yoga practice, and a high-tech pair of running shoes were also part of Metler’s game plan.
It was a winning formula—literally. As sunshine bathed a roaring crowd in Vernon Worthen Park on Oct. 2, 2021, Metler easily cruised to his fourth SG Marathon victory. He set a new personal record of 2:17:01, finishing more than a minute ahead of prior marathon winner Riley Cook of South Weber. For Metler, the win was especially meaningful.
“I loved doing this for me, obviously,” he mused. “But I especially loved doing it for our community. It was really cool to have a ‘local’ win the biggest event we have. I worked so hard for that reason: It’s an honor to be the person who can get people excited enough to come and watch and maybe participate themselves one day.”
Added Graves, “Aaron has led an incredibly healthy and goaloriented life, and as a result, he wins marathons, succeeds in business, and serves his community with great intention. He is a pleasure and a joy to work with, and everyone, including me, calls him friend.”
“At the end of the day, it’s not about me winning; I’m happy to be one of the 7,000 people who get the same finisher’s medal,” Metler concluded. “I hope to inspire people to live a healthy lifestyle…and then get out the door and achieve whatever they want to do.”
About the Author
Marianne L. Hamilton is a veteran journalist and marketing writer whose work appears in regional and national publications. When not race walking, hiking, or teaching water aerobics, she is the past Board Chair of Art Around the Corner and the Special Events Manager for DOCUTAH. She and her husband, Doug, are also co-administrators of the St. George Wine Club and race directors for the Huntsman World Senior Games and National Senior Games. Marianne was crowned Ms. Senior Italy Universe 2019–2020 and the Senior Pageants Group’s 2020–2021 Senior Games Ambassador. She is a proud breast cancer survivor.
