SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah special education teacher and avid endurance runner is beginning a lengthy recovery after suffering a stroke while competing in the Wasatch 100 endurance race.
Daniel Fetzer was participating in the annual Wasatch 100, a 100-mile trail race on September 11, and an event he had completed multiple times before. This year marked his fourth time running the course.
Fetzer's wife, Becka Murdock, said race day started like any other.
"He was excited," Murdock said. "We were up at 4 in the morning because the race started at 5."
The Wasatch 100 is one of Utah's endurance races, drawing runners who spend months training to take on the challenging mountain course.
"The people who have run it, or who volunteer at it, it becomes a very special part of their lives," said Mark Robbins with the Wasatch 100 race committee.
For Fetzer, the race was meaningful. Beyond being an accomplished trail runner and marathoner, he was known for his passion and dedication in many areas of his life. But during the race, Murdock noticed through a race-tracking device that her husband's pace had slowed.
Murdock later received a call from Daniel, who told her he wasn't going to make a cutoff point along the course. Soon after, race officials contacted her with devastating news.
"The next phone call I got was from the race directors saying that Dan had collapsed up there and he was getting medical assistance," Murdock said. "They believed he had experienced a stroke."
For the past week, Fetzer and his family have been searching for answers while he receives treatment in the hospital.
"You hear a stroke, and you're like that's not possible for someone who's young and healthy," Murdock said.
The news shocked family members who describe Daniel as active, healthy and deeply committed to helping others.
Outside of running, Fetzer works as a special education teacher at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in the Granite School District. His family shared how he is someone who consistently makes a difference in the lives of his students.
"That's just Dan in a nutshell," said his mother, Maryann Fetzer. "He's passionate. Dedicated. So healthy. It's a shock."
While the road ahead remains uncertain, family members say Fetzer is making progress and beginning his recovery journey. Robbins said the running community is rallying behind him and hopes to celebrate with him again someday.
"We hope nothing but the best for his family," Robbins said. "We would love, love, love to be a part of the day when he crosses that finish line again, whatever that finish line may look like.”
His family is raising funds to help with his long road to recovery.
