Woulda coulda shoulda. Mantz ran Boston last year and his time was 2:05:08. Talbi ran 2:03:45 on the same course.
Boston is the world's oldest annual and most historic marathon, featuring 130 years of memories, triumph, and fantastic finishes. It is held on Patriots Day. The top American at Boston is the top American in the country. That man is Zouhair Talbi.
I'm not talking about who was the Best American Marathon Man last year. I'm talking about who is the Best American Marathon Man now. That man is Zouhair Talbi.
I’ll grant you that he’s the best of 2026, thus far, but his legitimate PR is only nine seconds faster than one Vincent Mauri who soloed it on an inferior course with vastly inferior competition. Shame he didn’t run Boston.
Don’t get too over your skis. Talbi is great though, no doubt.
Sometimes not having competition can be an advantage for running fast because you can just focus on sending it without worrying about anyone catching you. The next guy after Kipchoge when he ran the WR was almost 5 minutes behind him.
When there's competition, a lot of guys tend to hold back and save something for the finish. That's what Talbi did when he won in Houston.
Sadly Conner's best days are behind him. The title of Best American Marathon Man now belongs to Zouhair Talbi.
Nah, it doesn’t. Talbi is still a 2:05:45 guy on a legit course with no tailwind, over a full minute behind Mantz’s record. Now, he may ultimately get to 2:03-high on a legit course.
Mantz would’ve run 2:02-high at Boston. I think he’ll make a comeback, but I also think he’ll need to be more selective about racing. Not sure 4 marathons in 14.5 months is such a great idea again.
And, yeah, he probably should stop sharing his training on Strava, though it’s been awesome. He used to post all of his training on some forum right when he got back from his Ghana mission and was in incredibly bad shape. It was fun to follow that journey and see how far along he came over the course of a year.
Mantz is 30 this year. That's a bad time to have 6 months of serious injuries. Of course he'll be back, but will he back in AR shape? He might actually need to be close to AR shape to make the team. If Mantz is healthy soon and stays healthy for the next 1.5 years, he'll be where he needs to be and he makes the team, most likely winning the trials.
But, if this lingers or relapses, there are too many other guys that are close enough to his peak fitness right now that his odds can start to drop. Peak Talbi, Peak Hicks, Peak Mauri will beat off-peak Mantz. Mantz was considerably better than everyone else except Young 2.5 years ago and would have made the team even 3 months off the couch. I don't think that's true anymore, and this injury string is looking considerably worse than anything he's gone through before unless his Strava is just hidden.
Oh come on, seriously? 99% you're trolling, but just to respond...
Mantz has never even podiumed in a race of international significance. If he had wins in NYC, Chicago, or Boston, you could probably say that (although there is such a thing as Olympic Silver or Bronze that he also hasn't done). But, right now he's basically next-gen Ryan Hall: religious guy that runs really fast but doesn't always take coaching advice properly, and always a step behind the African talent and can't quite eke out a win in anything beyond national-level races with limited competition. That's actually a disservice to Hall because at least Hall podiumed at Boston. Mantz has never finished better than 4th in a world-class field. He's the best the US has right now, but it's absolutely not correct to say Conner has done everything except get an Olympic gold. His 3 big accomplishments in my eyes are the following: 1. AR in Marathon, 2. AR in Half (although i doubt this will last terribly long), 3. Made the Olympics. A lot left on the table accomplishment wise.
Nah, it doesn’t. Talbi is still a 2:05:45 guy on a legit course with no tailwind, over a full minute behind Mantz’s record. Now, he may ultimately get to 2:03-high on a legit course.
Mantz would’ve run 2:02-high at Boston. I think he’ll make a comeback, but I also think he’ll need to be more selective about racing. Not sure 4 marathons in 14.5 months is such a great idea again.
And, yeah, he probably should stop sharing his training on Strava, though it’s been awesome. He used to post all of his training on some forum right when he got back from his Ghana mission and was in incredibly bad shape. It was fun to follow that journey and see how far along he came over the course of a year.
Mantz is 30 this year. That's a bad time to have 6 months of serious injuries. Of course he'll be back, but will he back in AR shape? He might actually need to be close to AR shape to make the team. If Mantz is healthy soon and stays healthy for the next 1.5 years, he'll be where he needs to be and he makes the team, most likely winning the trials.
But, if this lingers or relapses, there are too many other guys that are close enough to his peak fitness right now that his odds can start to drop. Peak Talbi, Peak Hicks, Peak Mauri will beat off-peak Mantz. Mantz was considerably better than everyone else except Young 2.5 years ago and would have made the team even 3 months off the couch. I don't think that's true anymore, and this injury string is looking considerably worse than anything he's gone through before unless his Strava is just hidden.
30 is not old for the marathon. Talbi is 31.
People are so incredibly reactionary. There were like 3 of us making noise that Talbi might be a contender when he got his citizenship last year. Suddenly he has dozens of loyal fans who insist that he's actually better than Mantz. Give me a break.
Mauri ran one, non-record eligible marathon and we're talking about him beating this person, that person. I've been beating the drum of the depth of the US men's field longer than anyone else, largely in response to the "Rupp will qualify in 28" contingent. But there are still levels to this.
You don't know anything about Mantz's training, what cross-training he's doing or alter-g or even if he is doing easy runs. He missed one race. It's absurd how reactionary people are to one race. He's probably going to Unify the AR Belt in Chicago in October and we'll look back at the hilarity of the "Mantz is done for" contingent then.