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HIGHLAND — First, it was a 5:25 mile at nine months pregnant, followed seven months later with an Olympic trials qualification performance in the 10K, and then becoming the new record holder of the Deseret News Half Marathon.
What could possibly top any of those amazing achievements? Well, how about running a 4:37 mile — in blue jeans.
That's right. In blue jeans.
On May 24, Makenna Myler, of Highland, was in California for some sea-level training when she learned about an event called the Blue Jean Mile that her team was putting on to raise money and awareness for mental health during the month of May. Myler said she wanted to participate in the event but had no intentions of running "fast."
"It wasn't working with my racing schedule to do a fast mile, so it was just going to do the Blue Jean Mile as the first mile in my workout that I had planned," Myler said. "So I stopped at the thrift store on the way to practice and grabbed some jeans."
With her tight and rather stiff pants on, she was ready to run. Little did she know, that adrenaline and some rather speedy pacers would have her running a lot faster than she had planned.
"All of us had our jeans on, and I really wasn't planning on going very fast — just 5K pace," Myler said. "I told my pacers to pace me for a 4:50 mile because I thought that would sound nice to be like, 'Blue Jean Mile: 4:50.' But the boys went out a little too fast, and I just went with it, and it felt good to run a 4:37."
Not only did Myler break the Blue Jean Mile record by 18 seconds, but she also beat her own personal best mile time by three seconds.
More than the records broken, Myler said that she was glad to participate in a cause that brings attention to something so important.
"Asics has a hashtag that is #soundmindsoundbody, and this has always been so important to the sport of running," Myler said. "The healthier your mind, the better you perform."
Myler, who now runs professionally, will be competing at the Deseret News 10K in July without a baby bump or blue jeans. But if her speed with these restrictive barriers is any indication of the possibilities, it will likely be another for the record books.
