Conner Mantz came into Sunday’s Houston Half Marathon with a singular goal: Breaking Ryan Hall’s nearly two-decades-old American record.
By that metric, Mantz knocked it out of the park, running 59:17 to better Hall’s 2007 mark by 26 seconds (not to mention slashing more than a minute and a half off his previous personal best of 1:00:55).
But the 28-year-old’s focus on the clock—along with what he and his coach, Ed Eyestone, perceived as a drift toward him by Ethiopia’s Addisu Gobena at the finish line that may have run afoul of World Athletics rules—potentially cost him the win, along with an additional $22,000 in prize money.
As pacemaker Amon Kemboi ticked off 4:30 miles from the start, Mantz stuck with him. Though the first two fast miles were “a shock to the system,” by 5K, Mantz knew he felt good enough that the record was within reach, he told reporters at the post-race press conference.
Also on his mind, though, were the gusty headwind the racers would face once they turned north onto Montrose Boulevard, just before mile 9. So rather than push the pace, he tucked into the V shape formed by his three competitors: Gobena, fellow Ethiopian and defending champion Jemal Yimer, and Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay.
“I should’ve been more concerned about racing at that point in time,” Mantz said. “I was a little more concerned about, how can I conserve as much energy as possible so that this record actually goes down?”
With a little over a mile to go, Mantz did some mental math, realizing he might need to pick up the pace to secure his place in the record books. “When I started to take off, it wasn’t like I was making a hard move trying to win at first,” he said. “When Gobena came and passed me, and then I tried to go again—I think I realized, ‘Oh, I have a lot more left in the tank.’”
But Gobena had reserves, too. Both men gritted their teeth and pushed to the finish, with Gobena appearing to tumble toward Mantz as they at the Olympic Marathon Trials, finishing. In the end, the photo finish was called for Gobena, by .04 seconds.
The victory earned Gobena $15,000 for first place, and an additional $15,000 for breaking the course record of 59:22, set by Feyisa Lilesa in 2012. Mantz, meanwhile, claimed $8,000 for second place and $10,000 for breaking the American record. If he’d won, the $7,000 bump from second to first place—along with the $15,000 course-record bonus—would have been his, an additional $22,000.
Just .001 Seconds Separate Third and Fourth in 200 Meters Runner’s World after the race, Mantz expressed surprise that the difference in winnings was that large. Though he did feel he was “impeded slightly” at the end, he also expressed gratitude to Gobena for blocking the headwinds earlier in the race, helping him achieve his record-breaking objective. (For those reasons, Eyestone said, the pair chose not to file a protest against what he called a “shady move.”)
And, Mantz said, he won’t have the same regrets again: “Next time, I’ll be focused on the win,” he said.
Fortunately, Mantz—whose epic 2024 included a win mdash;Theo Kahler contributed to this report eighth in the Olympic Marathon in Paris, and placing sixth and top American at the New York City Marathon—will have another chance at a payday soon. He’ll headline the American field at the 2025 Boston Marathon in April.
—Theo Kahler contributed to this report.
Cindy is a freelance health and fitness writer, author, and podcaster who’s contributed regularly to Runner’s World since 2013. She’s the coauthor of both Breakthrough Women’s Running: Dream Big and Train Smart and Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries, a book about the psychology of sports injury from Bloomsbury Sport. Cindy specializes in covering injury prevention and recovery, everyday athletes accomplishing extraordinary things, and the active community in her beloved Chicago, where winter forges deep bonds between those brave enough to train through it.
