West Hartford Man First American Male to Win Fairfield Half Marathon in More Than a Decade
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Everett Hackett of West Hartford pictured winning the Mystic Half Marathon on May 21. On June 25, 2017, he won the Fairfield Half Marathon. Photo courtesy of Jeff Billing
Everett Hackett of West Hartford won the Fairfield Half Marathon on Sunday, June 25, 2017.
By Ronni Newton
Everett Hackett, a 2008 graduate of West Hartford’s Hall High School, broke through the tape at the 37th annual Faxon Law Fairfield Half Marathon on Sunday in 1:07:16, becoming the first Connecticut male, and first American male, to win the race in more than a decade.
According to Hall cross country coach Jeff Billing, the race has been dominated by elite Kenyan and Ethiopian runners for years, and Hackett is the first American male to win since 2000. It was his first time running the race.
After his victory, Hackett told Chris Elsbury of the CT Post that he didn’t realize he was making history. “The first half of the race was actually, kind of easy. The guy leading was setting a really smooth pace, so I just ran with him,” Hackett said.
Hackett has had several other in-state race victories lately. On June 11, he won the Celebrate! West Hartford 5K in a time of 15:04, and on May 21, he won the Mystic Half Marathon in 1:06.59. In 2016, he placed 87th in the Olympic Marathon Trials.
Click here for complete results of the Fairfield Half Marathon.
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[…] has had many recent running successes, including winning the Fairfield Half Marathon and Celebrate West Hartford 5K in June. He also qualified for the 2016 Olympic Marathon […]