Granite Bay alum to compete in US Olympic Marathon Trials

Jake Ritter has no dreams of making the US Olympic Team, as he prepares for the 2024 US Olympic Marathon Trials. After all, Ritter, 24, and a 2017 graduate of Granite Bay High School, qualified for the trials after running his first real marathon, the 2022 California International Marathon. Ritter finished in 2 hours, 17 minutes and 17 seconds, beating the Olympic qualifying time by 43 seconds. "I had cross country fitness and about a week of marathon training before that race," Ritter said. "Qualifying for the Olympic trials was definitely a goal, and it was a relief crossing the finish line." Ritter's first passion is cross country. "Running marathon is not something I really wanted to do, but it's something I guess that I'm good at," Ritter said. "I'm better at the longer distances so I'm moving in that direction. I've only been focused on running marathons since August of 2023." Ritter began running as a young boy andbegan taking it more seriously in sixth grade. When he was in eighth grade, he ran a mile in five minutes. He admitted he didn't think much of his accomplishment at the time. "But Carla Kehoe, who would be my cross country coach at Granite Bay, did," Ritter said. "She was excited to have me at Granite Bay. Now, I appreciate the potential she saw in me that I didn't." Ritter had a fantastic career at Granite Bay, especially as a cross country runner where his team qualified for the state championships twice, while Ritter also made it as an individual a third time. His best performance came his senior year, when he finished seventh in the Division II race at the CIF State Meet. "I liked cross country better than track," Ritter said. "It's easier to race because I feel it's more effort-based. If you put a good effort into it, you don't have to worry about your time. Worrying about running a certain time in track made that harder for me." Ritter's running career blossomed even more at Cal Poly. Ritter won the Big West Conference Cross Country Championship three times, something a Cal Poly runner had never done. He was also named the Cal Poly Scholar Athlete of the Year two times, which he was said was a big accomplishment for him. "My best race or performance was my final year when I placed 12th at NCAA West Regionals and punched my ticket to NCAA Nationals," Ritter said. "It was my last year of competing for Cal Poly and it was a really difficult course. I placed 90th overall. I wanted a little better, but I think I had a good performance." Ritter graduated from Cal Poly in December 2022. He currently lives in Eugene, Oregon, with his girlfriend, mainly because he wanted to live in a town with a big running scene. With Eugene hosting USA and World championship races and all kinds of big track meets, it was a perfect fit for him. Ritter works fully remote as a structural engineer for a civil engineering firm called AECOM. His parents still live in Citrus Heights, and he has a brother who lives in San Diego. Ritter keeps in touch with Kehoe, who still coaches the Granite Bay team. When he's in the area, he sometimes runs with the team and talks with them. "I was home about a month ago for Christmas and I reached out to Coach Kehoe," Ritter said. "I don't know anyone on the team, but I mainly go talk to the coaches and they ask me to give a little speech, but mainly to hang out and run with. It's always nice to have people to run with, at any level. I really enjoy it." Since last August, Ritter has been training hard for the US Olympic Trials on Feb. 3 in Orlando, Florida. He's run a lot of 110-mile weeks, which it is that high-mileage consistency which helps to be able to finish a marathon. Four times a week, he runs in the morning and evening. Some days, he'll go on a 20-mile run. He runs 15 to 20 hours a week, and he usually lifts weights twice a week. Ritter said recovery from training is almost as important as the training itself. He's sure to rest when his body needs it, which includes a full eight hours of sleep every night. Asked what he thought his odds on qualifying for the US team are, despite the work he's put in, Ritter said they are slim to none. "That's honestly OK with me," Ritter said. "If you look who the favorites are, they've run marathons nine minutes faster than me and they're 28 to 30 years old. My goal is to get my experience at this race and place the highest that I can. I'd rather place 10th and feel good about myself and run my own race than go out with the lead pack, dying, and then placing 150th."