Connor MF Mantz

I wrote upwards of a decade, meaning not a full decade quite. Pretty much since 2017 the US has stunk at the marathon. I also wrote that Mantz is giving hope that we are turning things around, not that they have yet. Since peak Rupp, which ended by 2018, we’ve not really been competitive.

Korir ran the 2nd fastest Boston in history and Mantz was only 23 seconds behind him.
2:05:08 wins every Boston Marathon in the history of the race other than today and the 2011 race.
Anyone saying Mantz didn't podium so he didn't do anything special is nuts.

lol! It would also put him 29th on 2024 marathon list and 130th all-time. Literally 129 runners have run faster.

It's the 8th fastest Boston Marathon of all-time. 7 runners have run faster.

lol, sounds great bruh. 2:05 is 2:08+ pre bouncy shoes. Any runner that has run 2:08/09 at Boston would have run 2:05 in the shoes they have now.

Or, you really think Mantz is the 7th best runner to run Boston!? LOL!

Big Mantz fan but the way he was dropped in that last 100 suggests the tactics of the other two guys was simply to wait until the end. They could have dropped him a few miles earlier and he would have been running back with Linkletter and Young. In a sense they pulled him along. Yes, he pushed the pace and took the lead in front of them frequently, but as soon as he let them lead they'd slow down, confident they would drop him if he didn't break away. And he couldn't break away, because they matched every move he made. Their training (and ahem...protocol) is likely on another level.

So where does Mantz go from here? It's like he has to keep running the race of his life and hope for a few leg cramps etc. Just as with Paris where he followed the move with the leader (for a bit) Mantz always has to follow that move, the exhausting part is, that puts him in the position of always taking the bait, while the other guys just run trusting in their close.

Desperately wanted to see Mantz podium but his competitors seemed to be in control to the very end.

Look, I’m the first one to concede the new carbon fiber/reflexive foam is a performance enhancer, but not on the level of 3-4 min as you suggest. Maybe 4 sec per mile.

Mantz is an incredible runner, and I’m a little disappointed in Hall for telling him it’s a 2:04:58 day in the shoes he never had. That tailwind Hall had in Boston was absolutely ridiculous, not to mention the guy was on thyroid medication, which is *arguably* a performance enhancer. Is Mantz on thyroid like Hall and Rupp and Ritzenhein (I think) were? I very much doubt it.

I would’ve liked to see him go with Korir and risk blowing up, though you cannot argue with his strategy. I’d also like to see Mantz tuck in for an entire marathon for once; don’t lead it or push the pace.

He probably needs just a little more volume to get that last piece of aerobic strength, but it’s hard to do in a six day week. He’s at a disadvantage if a guy like Korir truly is running 250km per week, though Mantz’s training will probably afford him greater longevity in the sport. He’s right there…

In one of the post race interviews Mantz said he would have gone with Korir but when he made that move he was at the far back corner of the pack. He said he'd like to think he would have been able to hang behind him and hold on to second, but the way his legs felt like moving through sand at the close suggests he was at his limits today.

Personally, I'm not thinking that's a lack of aerobic endurance, but I wonder if he just had a higher concentration of carbs if he would have had better legs until the end. Some of his fatigued mile repeats workouts are pretty fast.

Anyone know how much he's taking?

It’s a nice run but in today’s context it’s not MF worthy. Hall ran 2:04 at Boston a long time ago for third place without super shoes. However, for how bad America has been at marathoning in the last decade, it’s good to see someone at least competing with East Africans.

You celebrate 4th place because it was a hell of a race by Conner. And because at some point in the near future, you know this kid's going to be a problem for those towing the line in the marathon. The bigger issue is that aside from Mantz, the US as a whole is still pretty weak. Today again proved that.

Does Mantz have a shot to become the GOAT for modern American marathonning? Yes.

But until he wins a major (which Rupp did) and earn an Olympic medal in the event, the point is moot.

Rupp took Bronze in Kipchoge's unstoppable reign, everyone else in that 2016 race was running for 2nd and 3rd.

Medals and majors, people. Medals and majors

Mister Marathoner???

Who in your expert opinion is considered an "all-time great American"? I'm assuming you mean all-time great American marathoner. Mantz has a pretty good marathon resume so far, and I don't see him slowing down anytime soon. How is Lemma dropping out a huge break? Lemma wasn't ready to compete for whatever reason, getting to the line healthy and ready to roll is half the battle. I don't care how fast Lemma has run, he didn't show up today, and Mantz did.

2:05 is no joke!

Kudos to Mantz. I didn't think he would finish in top 7, so 4th is great, as is the time.

All that being said, this doesn't put him anywhere near top 5 or maybe not even 10 of American marathoners. Ryan Hall was a little mean in when made the comments about the shoes, but he wasn't wrong.

Mantz is a grinder, which most of us can relate to, but I don't think he's an elite talent. It's a tribute to his hard work, guts, and coaching that he's done as well as he has.

Spot on observation because its predictable and known fact for years last 10k is the "race".

10 guys went through the half in 1:01:53 which is a up tempo run for a 58 flat half guyz. So the next 7 ya gotta " chill" cause hills start at 20.

At 20 just like clockwork...Korrir takes off AND rolls the dice up the hills and holds on to the end.

At 21 only 4 guys left 18 seconds back. This IS the RACE for 2nd-4th and Simbu, Edris, Kutot all know they've got money in the bank because 2nd pack is a minute behind them ! So they just pace off Conner last 5k and save it for the $75k 2nd or $40k 3rd kick. Like in golf.."drive for show and putt for dough".

Kiptum basically ran 2x 1:00:30 half's. Just dropping 3-4 minutes on a flat course to be there at the end is gonna be tuff for Conner.

Grant figured it out in the 10 & 5. Hopefully, so will Ed and Conner.

There was a significant headwind the last 10 miles. It picked up the closer they got to Boston, but was quite literally the exact opposite force pushing against Mantz that was pulling Hall to a faster time. It's not magic. It's physics.

Americans haven't been at the level of the Kenyans or Ethiopians the past 10 years. But they're a solid 3rd on the entire planet. Multiple major wins, multiple olympic medals. Their times seem slow because they only do NYC, Boston(both very slow non-rabbited races) and Chicago. In many past years Chicago didn't have rabbits. American talent is split between Chicago and NYC in the fall, giving very few shots at a fast time.

Chicago can definitely go fast, but Berlin, Valencia, or London are faster. I didn’t realize there was a headwind for that long today. Makes what these guys did even more impressive. It’s a legit time.

On the Boston thread Mister Marathoner is Here for running
aka Mr. Negative (attention)

Disagree on the bolded part by far. I don't know what race you were watching, but Mantz was the aggressor in the last two miles by far. He was pulling them along, not the other way. If you don't trust that you have more speed in your legs than they do, then that has to be your tactic: run the hurt into their legs so that they fall back, even by a few feet. Classic strength runner territory.

The part in italics I completely agree with. Which why I've said that I thought Mantz's gutsy emotional running style makes sense for him, and Young's more cerebral approach would be perfect for Valencia: Get on a 2:06 train and ride it all the way to the finish. That Mantz is willing and able to go with moves is a testament to his aerobic ability and, frankly, to his sheer gutsiness.

I'm stunned that Linkletter was able to hold on. He looked very herky-jerky getting dropped off of the lead pack at the 2/3 point in the race and I thought that he was done there, so major props to him to come back and actually beat Clayton. They both come off as very likeable on their videos, and its not hard to root for guys who aren't jerks to do well, whether that "doing well" is showing up in the top 10 of one of the fastest Boston's in history or the Olympics.