Skip to content
Toggle navigation
XTERRA
  • Race
    • All Race
    • Triathlon
      • All Off-Road Triathlon
      • Find a Race
      • World Championship
      • World Rankings
      • USA Championship
    • Series / Regions
      • World Tour
      • All Tri Tours / Regions
      • Asia-Pacific Tour
      • European Tour
      • Americas
      • Canada
      • Short Track
    • Trail Run
      • All Trail Run
      • Find a Race
      • Trail Marathon Series
    • Coaching
      • Find a Coach
      • Become a Coach
    • Rules & Info
      • Elites Criteria
      • FIND A RACE
  • News & More
    • News
      • All News
      • Tri News
      • Trail News
      • XTERRA Adventures Series
    • Team
      • About XTERRA
      • Hall of Fame
      • Warriors
      • XTERRA ADVENTURES
  • Training
    • XTERRA Training
      • All Training
      • XTERRA 101
      • Certified Coaching
      • Gear Guide
      • Nutrition
  • Customer Service
    • Contact Us
    • Shipping
    • Returns
    • Product Information
    • Race FAQ
  • Shop Login
XTERRA x

Join the XTERRA Family: (Select one or both)

By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe at any time.
  • Search
  • Account
Trail Run
Nov. 23, 2021

Back to Racing, Back to Life with Brett Hales

By XTERRA
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter

In 2014, Brett Hales signed up for the XTERRA Trail Run National Championship half-marathon in Utah one-hour before the race, then proceeded to blitz the field and win with a six-minute lead.

It was his first-ever trail race, and he was hooked.

XTERRA Athlete Brett Hales

“It was phenomenal, I loved it,” said Hales after the race. “Holy cow, that was so addicting. Looking left and seeing the valley, looking right and seeing the valley, it was unlike anything I’ve ever done before.”

Hales was an accomplished road runner at the time, an Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier, and an All-American at Weber State University where he finished fifth in the steeplechase at the 2011 NCAA championships. 

The trails, however, had lured him in and he was having great success racing off-road. 

XTERRA Athlete Brett Hales

In 2018, he won his third XTERRA Trail Run National Championship in as many tries, and went on to finish second behind only Joe Gray at the XTERRA Trail Run World Championship. 

And then … life happened.

“Man, so much has happened since 2018,” explained Hales. “Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the past three years my life hasn’t been filled with flashy pizzaz racing stories, it’s been more like, life settling in and running becoming less important than family and career.”

Hales took a job with Medtronic as a Medical Device representative and moved from Layton, Utah to Billings, Montana. His wife, Britney, gave birth to their third child in March of 2019 and because the racing scene in Montana isn’t that active, he’s just run a couple of competitive races since 2018.

“But I love running too much to simply stop and let the COVID 25lbs get the best of me, so I never stopped, and I’ve been able to keep my base, just paused the more intense workouts,” said Hales.

XTERRA Athlete Brett Hales

“What I’ve come to realize, though, is the longer I go without racing the more I feel a part of my identity is being lost and my body screams to once again find the boundary of “too much.” My muscles ache to feel the explosive force in climbing uphill, my lungs, sadistically call for going anaerobic and my veins plead with having lactic acid to buffer. Because of that, there’s no better race I could think of as a coming alive party and re-entry to racing than the XTERRA World Champs.”

Hales added that while he’d love to say this is the year he’ll get the best of Joe Gray, “he's just too difficult to stop right now, like a boulder tumbling downhill.”

XTERRA Athlete Brett Hales

“I also have respect for Andy Wacker and the rest of the US Mountain Running Team, and honestly don’t know what kind of trail shape I’m in but I can guarantee that once I toe the line, the Maui course is going to get everything I’ve got. Maybe I play spoiler, you never know.”

Perhaps even more important than the outcome of the race for Hales, is the beauty of the trip.

“For the first time in six years my wife and I are taking a vacation without kids,” he said. “My wife home schooled last year and needless to say it is a much-needed break we’re so looking forward to. This will be our second time to Maui, and I can’t wait to do the Road to Hana again and get some of that banana bread.” 

XTERRA


 

Back to Racing, Back to Life with Brett Hales

Recent NewsView All→

XTERRA Trail Run Worlds
Trail Run
Dec. 4, 2021

Gray, Murphy win 2021 XTERRA Trail Run World Championship

Read More
Trail Run
Dec. 1, 2021

XTERRA Trail Run World Championship this Saturday

Read More
Trail Run
Nov. 23, 2021

Back to Racing, Back to Life with Brett Hales

Read More
XTERRA Athletes Jo May and Doug Beagle
Trail Run
Nov. 18, 2021

Running for Life; A Conversation on Love & Endurance

Read More
US Mountain Running Team
Trail Run
Oct. 29, 2021

US Mountain Running Team Racing to Hawaii

Read More
XTERRA trail run prep
Trail Run
Oct. 7, 2021

Getting Started with Trail Running

Read More
XTERRA Trail Run Nationals
Trail Run
Sep. 23, 2021

XTERRA Trail Run Nationals Sunday in Utah

Read More
XTERRA Beaver Creek
Trail Run
July 18, 2021

Hemming, Scholl win XTERRA Beaver Creek 18K

Read More
XTERRA Beaver Creek
Tri News Trail Run
May 21, 2021

XTERRA Beaver Creek … Book It!

Read More
XTERRA Taihu
Trail Run Asia-Pacific News
May 19, 2021

2021 XTERRA Taihu Trail Run Highlights

Read More
XTERRA News
BROWSE ALL

Join the XTERRA Family: (Select one or both)

By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe at any time.

Stay Connected:

  • Facebook XTERRAplanet (opens in new window)
  • Twitter @xterraplanet (opens in new window)
  • Instagram @xterraplanet (opens in new window)
  • YouTube XTERRAPlanet (opens in new window)
  • Strava XTERRA (opens in new window)

Questions?

  • Contact Us
  • 877-751-8880

Race

  • All Race
  • Find a Race
  • Off-Road Triathlons
  • Trail Run
  • Training
  • Gear Guide

Company

  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Partners
  • News

© XTERRA Sports Unlimited. Privacy Policy   |   Terms & Conditions

Scroll to top