Kylie Mantz wins Two Cities Marathon

I think she grew up in the area.

According to strava, Conner paced her the whole way and she was hoping to hit an OTQ. Still a solid debut

Interesting. I live in the area and I usually run Two Cities (usually the half) but this year the entry fee was so expensive that I opted to try a different half-marathon farther away. It would have been cool to see Connor and Kylie. Nice debut for someone who I understand hasn't been running for long.

Kylie ran for Buchanan High in Clovis her freshman year of HS then quit and then began running again when she attended BYU. Awesome debut marathon for her!

Great result! Good for her

Pics of Conner pacing her. Click and scroll down:

runsignup.com

Two Cities Marathon

In its 17th year and presented by CalViva Health, 2CM takes place in the central valley of California along the border of Fresno and Clovis. Our events offer scenic and truly flat PR courses for elite and beginners alike. Uni...

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She was definitely swinging for the fences here. She really wanted that OTQ. Brutal positive split shows she isn't quite there yet.

I bet she gets low 2:40 or maybe even 2:39 if she ran a more conservative race in line with her fitness.

This is outstanding for someone relatively new to running. If she stays healthy she'll get her OTQ before long. She's very close.

I wonder if he two stepped his wife the whole way?

Her marathon race pace is 90 seconds per mile slower. He was pacing her. Thats what pacers do

Like most of you I was fooled by Two Cities Marathon.

What next NYCM -- New York County Marathon, in York, PA?

For every Olympic Trials marathon before Orlando, her time WOULD have been an OTQ. 2:43 is a very solid time, especially for a debut of a relative beginner.

As someone who works in York, PA, I'll offer the correction that it's simply called the York Marathon and Half Marathon. I believe that's the only full marathon held in York County, though there is another half which I won in 2023.

Wow, that’s a good husband! Two observations - odd that he would wear his pro racing kit. Also, even though he was wearing a bib number, he doesn’t appear in the results.

I've lived in the area for 22 years and the Two Cities race has existed since I came here, although it was only a half-marathon for the first few years. The original half-marathon started in Clovis and ended in Fresno, hence the "Two Cities". Now both the half and the full start and finish in Woodward Park.

I noticed that too. I assume he didn't want to risk DQing his wife by pacing her as a bandit, but he also didn't want that time showing up as an official time for him so he peeled off the course before the finish.

That must at least be a decent training run for him. I know he did it for his wife, but I don't think he'd completely screw up his training for her, given that it's how he makes his money

This podcast was recorded the day after the marathon. She said the goal was to see how far she could run OTQ pace. Turned out to be 18 miles.