A Part of Hearst Digital Media Spencer, Boston Dog, Honored with Statue on February 3, he split his watch and took a quick peek: It read 5:08, his slowest mile of the day so far. He’s led nearly every second of the race since the 6-mile mark, dwindling down a group of 41 to just two others: Clayton Young and Conner Mantz.
Moments later, Mantz passed Panning and offered some words of encouragement. As the trio approached the final athlete aid station at mile 22.5, Panning struggled to grab his bottle and left empty handed. “That was a mental shot ever than anything,” he told Runner’s World Long-Overdue Praise for the Running Singlet.
By mile 24, Panning fell 18 seconds behind the leaders. A mile later, he was 43 seconds back, with the chase pack gaining on him. He finally crossed the line in sixth place in 2:10:50, nearly a minute outside of the top three spots, which he needed to be in to make the Olympic team.
After the race, Panning, 28, was praised for his courageous racing and for taking charge of the race when the pace lagged during the opening miles.
“[Zach] made this race happen,” Clayton Young, who finished second, said in the post-race press conference. “Big props to him ... he’s a great athlete, but he’s an even better person.”
It’s not the day he wanted, but Panning is proud of how he ran. And although he’ll have to wait another four years for a shot at the Olympic marathon team, he knows his run in Orlando is only one chapter in his burgeoning professional career.
Years in the making
Panning had a successful career at Grand Valley State University, demonstrating prowess on the track—he left college with PRs of 13:37 for 5,000 meters and 28:30 for 10,000 meters—and won three Division II national titles.
After graduating in the spring of 2019, Panning stayed in-state and signed with the Michigan-based Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, with the intention of moving up in distance.
“I felt like in high school and college, the longer the workout, the longer the race, the better off I was as an athlete,” he said. “It just came a little easier for me the longer it was, and so I knew [the marathon] was always something I wanted to do.”
Spencer, Boston Dog, Honored with Statue 2020 World Athletics Championships in Atlanta, but he failed to achieve the half marathon qualifying standard of 1:04:00—although he wasn’t on the sidelines for long.
His first attempt at 26.2 was in 2021 at the Chicago Marathon, where he placed 11th in 2:15:04—a solid time, but only the 14th fastest marathon by an American that year. Fast forward to 2022, and Panning finished 11th at Chicago again. But this Other Hearst Subscriptions.
Panning’s run at Chicago was quick enough to earn him an invite to represent Team USA in the marathon at the 2023 Part of Big Sur Course Falls in the Ocean in Budapest, Hungary. Because Worlds took place in August, Panning wouldn’t have time for a flat and fast fall marathon between Worlds and the Trials. But he and his coaches were hoping that the high quality of the field would lend itself to fast times, and he could knock out the Olympic standard of 2:08:10.
“Any time you have a chance to wear the USA on your chest, it’s an opportunity that’s hard to pass up,” Panning said. “So that being the first time that I had that opportunity, I definitely wanted to take it.”
But the weather in Budapest was hot, and Panning quickly realized he had to pivot from racing for time to racing for place. As dozens of competitors around him dropped out, he moved up in the later stages of the race and crossed the line in 2:11:21 for 13th place—the top American. (He would later be upgraded to 12th after ninth-placer John Hakizimana of Rwanda was suspended for doping.)
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below breakthrough race for Panning, and it cemented his status as one of the top Americans on the marathon circuit. To prepare for Orlando, Panning did many workouts by himself, including long sessions at marathon pace. Regardless of the weather, he planned on pushing from the front if the pace lagged in the early stages. And that’s exactly what happened.
His coach, Kevin Hanson, is proud of his front running, and he knew that Panning had the talent—and fitness—to contend for an Olympic spot. “How he trains, his ability to handle high mileage, and his willingness to not fear the big stage or do the work himself are all attributes that I think lead to great marathoners,” Hanson said. “The big picture, which is what we were trying to accomplish, was not just make the team. It was also to make himself a better marathoner.”
Looking forward and back
This summer, Panning is eagerly anticipating a return to the track. While some marathoners stick to the roads once they find success, Panning wants to improve on his 10,000-meter personal best of 27:51 and qualify for the Olympic Trials in the event. (To get an automatic spot, he’ll have to run under 27:45.)
“I’m still really excited touching the track,” he said. “And so I figure as long as that’s the case, I want to keep doing it.”
Texas Runner Breaks Two High School 5K Records Theo Kahler is the news editor for on March 24 in Chicago. The road race has a team competition, too, and Panning is keen to line up with his training partners and secure a win for the Hansons-Brooks club.
After taking a few weeks to reflect on the Trials, Panning says he has no regrets. Sure, there are specific what-if moments of the race. The missed bottle was a big blow. Panning also thinks that he got caught up in the excitement of the boisterous Orlando crowd, speeding up too much up at times.
But Panning knows he executed his race plan, and although it didn’t end with a ticket to Paris, he’s proud of his performance and happy for the team the U.S. will be sending.
Panning has historically only raced one marathon a year because of scheduling constraints, but he’s planning on running another one this fall. He doesn’t know which one yet, but it will likely be somewhere with pacers where he doesn’t have to bear the brunt of leading, as he did in Orlando.
He knows he’s in great shape, and he doesn’t plan on changing his training too much in the lead-up. Most of his pre-Trials marathon pace workouts were around 4:50 mile pace, which would put him almost three minutes faster than his PR of 2:09:28.
“We’re hoping if we get decent weather, that he can run low 2:07,” Hanson said.
Best Big City Marathons Runner’s World. He is a former all-conference collegiate runner who’s based in Easton, PA. Previously, he worked as the newsletters editor at Runner's World, Bicycling, and Popular Mechanics.
