Where should Conner Mantz sign?

Would he consider heading to the hills of Uganda and training with Kiplimo & Cheptegei? He would only become tougher & stronger, the intercultural exchange would likely be enjoyed by both parties, and he could probably parlay the experience into a book deal down the road. He seems to have the intelligence & the fortitude for such a gambit. If it doesn’t work out, he can still return to the States and train most anywhere. With whom he signs--Under Armour, UPS, Unicef--is irrelevant as long as the money is respectable and he retains the right to train wherever he wants and with whom he wants. An outrageous idea?

I would love to see that

East bound and up wrote:

Would he consider heading to the hills of Uganda and training with Kiplimo & Cheptegei? He would only become tougher & stronger, the intercultural exchange would likely be enjoyed by both parties, and he could probably parlay the experience into a book deal down the road. He seems to have the intelligence & the fortitude for such a gambit. If it doesn’t work out, he can still return to the States and train most anywhere. With whom he signs--Under Armour, UPS, Unicef--is irrelevant as long as the money is respectable and he retains the right to train wherever he wants and with whom he wants. An outrageous idea?

He's already lived in West Africa, why not East Africa?

should be studying 102 wrote:

If you constructed a robot from the ground up to succeed at running, it would have a LOT of similarities to Galen Rupp. I think people really underestimate how much he is a student of the sport.

Rupp is waaay more efficient in his running form than Mantz. Hobby joggers look better than Mantz (Schweizer has gotten better under Jerry/Shalane). This will be the difference maker in his career.

Form Asthetics Person wrote:

should be studying 102 wrote:

If you constructed a robot from the ground up to succeed at running, it would have a LOT of similarities to Galen Rupp. I think people really underestimate how much he is a student of the sport.

Rupp is waaay more efficient in his running form than Mantz. Hobby joggers look better than Mantz (Schweizer has gotten better under Jerry/Shalane). This will be the difference maker in his career.

All athletes have strengths and weaknesses. If he's wildly inefficient like you state, then he obviously has other anomalous outlying traits, not outwardly visible that more than make up than those alleged inefficiencies.

Mcdonald ran in the Olympics and did pretty well, not to mention he did that with a stress fracture. Most NCAA XC champs go on to run pretty well as pros.

This

I agree with the above as well, which is why I suggested Tinman Elite. I don't think Mantz can run a better marathon than this Reed Fisher person, and their form looks about the same to me.

East bound and up wrote:

Would he consider heading to the hills of Uganda and training with Kiplimo & Cheptegei? He would only become tougher & stronger, the intercultural exchange would likely be enjoyed by both parties, and he could probably parlay the experience into a book deal down the road. He seems to have the intelligence & the fortitude for such a gambit. If it doesn’t work out, he can still return to the States and train most anywhere. With whom he signs--Under Armour, UPS, Unicef--is irrelevant as long as the money is respectable and he retains the right to train wherever he wants and with whom he wants. An outrageous idea?

I was thinking similarly (spending a little time in Africa). He spent time in Ghana on a mission so he may be open to the idea.

His current coach is his best bet, Eyestone / Marathon

He has Bowerman written all over him. Unless he wants to train with Jarad Word.

I hope he stays at BYU. Could work on his MS, have good training partners and coach (Eyestone), and be around a lot of LDS girls to date.

Mantz will stay in Provo until he graduates in April. His girlfriend is on a mission so when she gets home in a couple months he will then have to determine if it's worth it to stay in Provo for her, or try to convince her to go to a group with him, or break it off. Mantz will sign with someone in the next week and has it narrowed to two sponsors. Both sponsors would allow him to stay in Provo until the end of this next Olympic cycle and train under Eyestone or immediately join a group of his choosing.

Nothing else needs to be said until he signs.

East bound and up wrote:

Would he consider heading to the hills of Uganda and training with Kiplimo & Cheptegei? He would only become tougher & stronger, the intercultural exchange would likely be enjoyed by both parties, and he could probably parlay the experience into a book deal down the road. He seems to have the intelligence & the fortitude for such a gambit. If it doesn’t work out, he can still return to the States and train most anywhere. With whom he signs--Under Armour, UPS, Unicef--is irrelevant as long as the money is respectable and he retains the right to train wherever he wants and with whom he wants. An outrageous idea?

He’s married, I think.

in-the-know wrote:

Mantz will stay in Provo until he graduates in April. His girlfriend is on a mission so when she gets home in a couple months he will then have to determine if it's worth it to stay in Provo for her, or try to convince her to go to a group with him, or break it off. Mantz will sign with someone in the next week and has it narrowed to two sponsors. Both sponsors would allow him to stay in Provo until the end of this next Olympic cycle and train under Eyestone or immediately join a group of his choosing.

Nothing else needs to be said until he signs.

Good intel this. I sure thought he was married already.

AARP

in-the-know wrote:

Mantz will stay in Provo until he graduates in April. His girlfriend is on a mission so when she gets home in a couple months he will then have to determine if it's worth it to stay in Provo for her, or try to convince her to go to a group with him, or break it off. Mantz will sign with someone in the next week and has it narrowed to two sponsors. Both sponsors would allow him to stay in Provo until the end of this next Olympic cycle and train under Eyestone or immediately join a group of his choosing.

Nothing else needs to be said until he signs.

Thank you for this.