‘Happy to be a 2:05 guy’: Former BYU star Clayton Young runs the race of his life at Boston Marathon
Young’s time makes him the fifth-fastest American ever, including point-to-point courses.
Runners stride down Boylston Street while approaching the finish line of the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Boston. | Charles Krupa, Associated Press Only a few weeks ago, Clayton Young, the Olympic marathoner and former BYU national champion, was uncertain he would be able to compete in Monday’s Boston Marathon. For 18 weeks — until mid-February — he was unable to run because of an ankle injury.
He decided to run anyway. That made his performance all the more remarkable. Young finished with a personal-record time of 2:05:41 — his previous best was 2:07:04 on this same course a year ago.
It is a commentary on how ridiculously fast this era of distance running is that Young placed only 11th, ending his streak of top-10 finishers at six, dating back to 2023. “I’m really happy to be a 2:05 guy,” he told the Deseret News after the race. “To be honest I’m a little disappointed to take 11th — it breaks my streak of top-10 finishes.
But, yeah, I’m a 2:05 guy. ” That time makes him the fifth-fastest American ever, including point-to-point courses (such as Boston). Only loop courses count for official records.