Cook, a four-time winner of the Ogden Marathon men’s division, finished 37th among males at the California International Marathon on Sunday, Dec. 4, in Sacramento. It wasn’t necessarily the place that was notable, but his time.

Cook ran the marathon in 2 hours, 17 minutes and 18 seconds. The CIM is a Boston Marathon and an Olympic Trials qualifier race. The Olympic Trials standard is 2:18.

The South Weber resident, age 41, finished first among so-called “masters” runners, or those who are 40 years and older. Of the 42 men who met the Olympic Trials qualifying time, Cook is the only one older than age 35.

Cook, a former Weber State track athlete, returned to running over the last decade and overcame a diagnosis of exertional rhabdomyolysis three years ago, according to a report in Runner’s World. Rhabdomyolysis is a serious condition where overworked muscles break down and release protein and electrolytes into the blood.

“Ever since I turned 40, I have a sense of urgency,” Cook told Runner’s World. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep trying to run PRs before my body’s like, it’s over.”

Cook won the Ogden Marathon men’s division in 2016, 2018 and 2019. The Marathon was not staged in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cook returned to win the restart 2022 race seven months ago with a time of 2:25:45. That means he’s won three straight and four of the last five.

“I love this race,” Cook told the Standard-Examiner after his Ogden Marathon win in May. “I’m getting up there in age, you know. I am getting older. I don’t know how much longer I have that I can be competitive for the overall win. I kind of live as if it could go away at any time, so I just try to make the most of it while I still can.”

If Cook runs in the Olympic Trials, that race is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2024, in Orlando, Florida.