In 2007 he was 15th at the National Cross Country Championships, but was third at the 15 Championships behind Meb Keflezighi and Ryan Hall.[8] He failed to finish (due to Ryan Hall's fast pace) at the London Marathon in April, but enjoyed some success over 10,000 m: he set a personal best of 28:15.22 minutes at the Stanford Invitational and was sixth at both the national championships at 2007 Pan American Games.[9] He attempted to gain Olympic selection at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in New York City, but his personal record run of 2:15:27 was only enough for tenth place.[10] Three stress fractures left him unable to compete for most of 2008 and he considered abandoning the sport. He changed coach in 2009 from Brad Hudson to Steve Jones and competed at mass races including the Cherry Blossom 10-miler, Steamboat Classic and Bolder Boulder.[11] He also ran in four national road championship races, with his best finish being a fourth place at the 25K race.[9] Hartmann had his first major win at the Twin Cities Marathon, where he defeated the favored Kenyan runners in the final stages to lift the title in a time of 2:12:09.[11]
Major marathons
He came fourth at the Fifth Third River Bank Run in 2010, but preparations for the 2010 Chicago Marathon were interrupted by a break with his coach, Steve Jones. Hartmann instead began training with Lee Troop, who was setting up a small elite group known as the Boulder Track Club in Boulder, Colorado. The coach change led to his best marathon finish of 2:11:06 hours for eighth place and he was the first American to cross the line. In May 2011 he beat Keflezighi to the top U.S. finish at the 100th Bay to Breakers.[11] He was runner-up in the Las Vegas Half Marathon with a time of 1:03:34. Hartmann had geared his preparations towards he 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, chase pack leader at halfway point, but finished far off his target of the top three as he ended the race in 32nd place.[3] Keen to make up for this disappointing performance, Hartmann set his eyes on the 2012 Boston Marathon . He decided to run tactically and stayed away from the leading pack. The leaders dramatically slowed in the heat while Hartmann worked his way up to field to eventually finish in fourth place (the only non-Kenyan to make the top six).[12][13]
Twin Cities Marathon (2009)
Twin Cities victory in 2009 was a career changer elevating him to one of the five best marathoners in the United States.
Chicago Marathon (2010)
Hartmann charged home to a personal best of 2:11:06 and an eighth place showing (top American), accomplishing both his goals
Boston Marathon (2012)
A fourth at the Boston Marathon on the day was the incredible heat that stifled the world's best, resulting in slow times, but Hartmann didn't let that affect him
Boston Marathon (2013)
A near perfect race, again finishing fourth in 2:12:12, and as top American in the most celebrated of American races. [14]
Coaching career
Elise Cranny was under Coach Hartmann's guidance 2008 - 2014.[15] Elise is now a Pac-12 student-athlete at Stanford University.[16][17] Elise Cranny is #3 on all-time scholastic 1500-meter list.[18]
Saginaw Valley State University Head Coach Rod Cowan has announced the addition of Jason Hartmann to the Cardinal coaching staff for the cross country and track & field programs. He will work mainly with the distance runners during the indoor and outdoor track & field seasons. In August 2018, Hartmann recognized the skill and ability of SVSU's throws coach Nick Halabicky adding he viewed him as a mentor.
Hartmann was added to the staff at Central Michigan University for the 2019-2020 campaign. He was mainly the men’s distance coach. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the athletics shutdown in March 2020, cutting all collegiate NCAA seasons short. Then weeks later, Central Michigan became the first Division 1 University to cut men’s track and field due to the pandemic. This ended Jason’s short lived coaching stint at CMU.
