Connor Mantz is just a really cool guy who can run fast marathons.
Oh, and now he’s the American record holder in 2:04:43.
Seriously, I’ve interviewed this remarkable athlete a few times and he’s always thoughtful, even if he just finished a 26.2 mile race. If you’ve run a few marathons (eighteen for this writer, earlier in life), you remember how it can feel after hitting 26.2 miles, even in a good race.
So here’s the scoop on Connor Mantz.
He wasn’t an overnight sensation. The truth is, no one really is. Before you reach that elite level, you need a lot of hard work, grueling days and years (I think 10-12) of building. Now some are different (look at Jane Hedengren), but they all require hard work.
Connor ran his first half marathon at age 12. At age fourteen, Connor Mantz ran 1:11.26 for 13.1 miles, a 5;26 per mile pace. A very good high school runner, Connor qualified for three FootLocker cross country finals (which means you’re one of the top 40 boys in the country, where Susie Favor Hamilton, Meb Keflezighi, Charles Alexander, among others ran well). In high school, Connor won one state title, placing second and third. Back then, Connor had high school PBs of 1:56.8 for 800m, 4:10.47 for 1600m and 8:57.99 for 3200m while at SkyView High School (Smithview, Utah).
In college, Connor Mantz was coached by Ed Eistone, a BYU graduate, 1992 and 1996 Olympic marathoner, and one of the best coaches on the planet. When one talks to Connor Mantz, Kenneth Rooks, or Ed’s athletes, you see this quite confidence, a lot of thoughtfulness and an appreciation of the process. During the Chicago Marathon telecast, Conor asked what the difference was between his 2:08:16 in his Chicago debut in 2022 and his 2:04:43 just three years later. “It’s not crazy to improve by three and a half minutes in three years,” Mantz said thoughtfully to media inquiries. Connor noted before the interview that “I’ve added little things.” Ed Eystone continues to train Connor Mantz and his training partner Clayton Young, among many fine athletes in Salt Lake City, Utah.
This writer has known Coach Eystone for perhaps three decades, mostly through quick, thoughtful conversations with the father of six daughters, as well as watching him compete in the US championships, Olympics and marathons. Ed Eystone coached BYU athletes for twenty-five years, I think. Ed Eyestone, according to his athletes, aims to keep it simple and focused. Simple is the wrong word like Ed Eyestone and this is my observations focusing on his athletes and that support is the secret sauce. Ed Eystone’s athletes know they’ve done everything on God’s green earth to prepare for their upcoming race. Trust is a key component of this relationship.
Like many members of the Church of Latter-day Saints, Connor Mantz took two years as a missionary for his faith. When Connor Mantz enrolled at Brigham Young University, he redshirted his freshman year. Three years later, Connor was ready to shake things up.
Connor Mantz made history with his two NCAA titles in 2020 and 2021. His victory in 2021, in Stillwater, Oklahoma, was historic. Connor’s 29:26.1 win on the fast but challenging course was her 22nd win and the first time an American has won 20. Rupee?). Connor returned in 2021 and won the NCAA cross country, then finished second in the 10,000m at the NCAA Cross Country. (Want to see how Conor Mantz trained in 2021, check here: https://fastrunningblog.com/u/conner/#google_vignette.)
Cross-Country builds athletes over 800 meters. Heck, longtime San Jose State coach Bud Winter (Speed ​​City) made Lee Evans (former WR 400 meter dasher) run cross country. Connor’s strength from high school, college, elite athlete built on cross country miles and trails gave him that foundation to handle the increased level of training and focus needed to be an elite marathon distance athlete.
The road to the marathon is long.
There are good marathons and then there are bad marathons.
When Connor Mantz made his debut, he did so in October 2022 at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, running a remarkable 2:08:16. At the time, Connor Mantz’s run was the second-fastest debut by an American (Leonard Corriere 2:07:56).
In his second marathon (April 2023), Connor experienced that agony. Running well in the half, 1:02:20. At 20 miles, Conor began to fall back, 45 seconds behind the leaders. Then Conor Mantz experienced “that dark moment of the soul” where one questions why they run marathons. Conor Mantz told the media that he “almost blacked out” as he ran the last few miles at a sub-six-minute mile pace, finishing in 2:10.25, finishing eleventh as the third American.
Now, 2:10:25 is pretty impressive for most marathoners, but Connor Mantz dreams of a “bench finish,” aka top three. The Boston Marathon is a tough course and must be respected. (Bill Rogers, who won 4 Bostons (1975, 1978, 1979 and 1980), retired in 1977.)
In the fall of 2023, Connor Mantz returned to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and ran 2:07:47 to take the Boston money off his neck and set the Olympic standard for Paris 2024.
Connor Mantz and his training partner Clayton Young went one, two at the 2024 US Olympic Trials on February 4, 2024. Connor was injured and spent a lot of time in the pool swimming up to 10,000 meters as he prepared for the 2024 Paris Olympics. One of Clayton’s workouts when he was coming back from injury was an uphill run, where he would run downhill so as not to challenge the healing muscles. Connor and Clayton prepared for the rigorous course in Paris.
Oh, and at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Connor ran a serious 10,000m race where the field just went “Raging Bull” on each other, one after the other. Connor Mantz finished sixth in 28:00.90. Connor then told this writer: “I didn’t know if I was going to finish after the first two miles, I felt like I was going to give it my all.”
A side scale is needed here. this writer has watched or attended every Olympic marathon since 1972. The Paris 2024 marathon course was one of the most god awful courses this writer has ever seen. Conor Mantz was ranked 56th before the Paris Olympic Marathon. Conor finished eighth in Paris. Clayton Young, his training partner, finished 9th.
Not having enough marathons in 2024, Connor Mantz then ran the 2024 TCS NYC Marathon, finishing sixth in 2:09:00, the fastest American time in the Big Apple since 1981 and one Alberto Salazar.
The next time I saw Conor Mantz was his PB of 2:05:08 at the Boston Marathon in April 2025. Connor was delighted. Connor was hoping for a top three finish, finishing 4th in 2:05:08. Since the Boston Marathon is, for some inexplicable reason, not “American record legal,” Connor knew he needed a legal course to break Khalid Khanushi’s twenty-three-year-old American record.
Now onto the sidebar, Khalid Khannoushi. Khalid was a Moroccan who married an American. Khalid became an American citizen and proudly set an American record (also a world record) at the time (2002) while winning the London Marathon in 2:05.08. That fall, Khalid won his fourth Chicago Marathon title (1997, 1999, 2000 and 2002, plus a second in 2001), in 2:05:55, the first person to sub two hours, six minutes in the marathon twice in one year.
Connor Mantz’s run in Chicago was an example of great training, great focus, some great races coming together for a near-perfect storm. Conor ran the NIKE Pre Classic 10,000m on July 5, 2025, finishing twelfth in 27:33.22. It was a tough race, but Connor was reminded of what he had to do to prepare for Chicago. A month later, Conor Mantz won the #BeachtoBeacon10k race established by 1984 Olympic champion Joan Benoit Samuelson, breaking a 23-year-old course record (Gilbert Okari) with his remarkable 27:26. Connor Mantz joined Ben True as the only other American male to win the Beach to Beacon.
One more race, the US 20-kilometer championships, was won by Connor in New Haven, Connecticut, in 56:16 before the American record attack.
Connor was ready.
Race day was cool with a bit of a win. The race executive made a fitting sacrifice to the running gods (Paavo Nurmi, Willy Ritola et al in Runner’s Heaven) to ensure good weather in the Windy City.
Connor Mantz clocked 14:23 for the 5k, 29:20 for the 10k, 44:04 for the 15k, and
