WTF: American Matt Richtman 2:07:56 to WIN LA Marathon

Guys, 2:07 is not that fast. Why are we freaking out? It's "fast for an American" I suppose but he's literally 4-5 minutes away from winning a real race.

This is a real race and he won it.

Super pumped for Richtman. This reminds me of Paul Pilkington winning LA in '94 when he was a rabbit and "wasn't supposed to win".

That being said just wanted to point out I wish Americans would stop thinking times like this are seemingly out of reach.

Marathon WR is 2:00:35, 7:21 faster than Matt ran, or 441/26.2 = 16.83 seconds per mile

16.83 x 6.21 (for a 10k) = 104 seconds = 1:44

10000 WR = 26:11, then add 1:44 = 27:55

Odds are Matt is around 16.83" per mile behind WR pace at nearly every distance from around 1 mile and further

The beauty of the marathon (for guys that don't have the speed to be truly international-class) is that glycogen stores/replenishment become a factor and on the right day you can outsmart competitors that otherwise have a greater physiological capacity

Feels like Americans are starting to believe again when it comes to the marathon, love to see it

And people on this messageboard have the audacity to continue to say how the Big Sky is a “weak conference”.

A recent college graduate 2:07 marathoner never won a conference title, XC, indoor or outdoor.

In a mid major “weak” Conference. Kaboom.

4:20 is not that fast for a high school miler.

Just watched the race on YouTube. L.A. channel.

Richtmann: 1:56.85, 3:47.99, 4:16.58, 8:17.61, 13:47.04, 28:21.79, 1:01:47.

His running form is not impressive, looks flat footed, no bounce, but running is deceptive and he gets the job done. Well done. Kid's an engineer, chess player big IQ. Probably had a good game plan, and meticulous preparation (engineering 101). He trained in Bozeman, Montana, throughout the winter - a lot on the indoor track and treadmill. Kudos.

What's his ceiling? I'd say: 13:35/28:10/1:00:30/2:06:00. Hope he does it.

Is the Big Sky even a mid-major conference or something less?

The new guys have arrived, our next Olympic Marathon team is probably going to be whole new guys. A 13:40 guy just did this, what happens when the 13:05-13:30 guys who know they have no shot to make a 5k-10 world team and decide to move up too. The top 10 depth in the Marathon and 10k by 2028 might have our heads exploding.

Joe Klecker's workouts are much more impressive.

They’ll make the competition sweat till they bleed. Obviously.

This will go over the mental midget’s head while triggering others all at the same time!

I put his time into a (crappy, free) marathon time comparison calculator and it says this is equivalent to a 2:06 flat in Chicago. You never know… not everyone is great at flat races but this is a great result for him.
NYC better pay this guy to show up there!

2:07 marathon in 2025, YAWN, we're still a solid 5 mins behind elite competition.

The women's winner of this race ran 2:30. Conditions today were ok but not ideal, a little warm. This course has more elevation gain (900+ at LA) than Boston and an uphill finish (Santa Monica kicked the marathon out of the pier after COVID so now it loops back at the City limit and finished in Century City). A 2:07 high on this course is probably a 2:06 something at Boston. If an American ran a 2:06 at Boston they would be challenging for the podium, and if the chips fell right, could well win it.

If his Strava indeed includes all his runs, how is was this run possible? Maxing out around 100 MPW, almost all of it very easy (as an earlier poster noted only 4 workouts during the build), and from what I can tell not one mile faster than his MP at LA.

Height?

And the big?

Weight?

You can’t ask this if a woman!

Actually, although Grandmas’s is not record eligible, it is WA qualifying eligible — which I don’t think LA is. Beardsley had run a couple of 2:11-2:12s before Grandma’s, but it was a nice jump that put him in the “conversation”. I agree it is way off the WR, but again, it puts him in the “conversation” — at least among top Americans.

Do we think Joshua Cheptegei could have won this race?