Conner Mantz, the fastest qualifier heading into the race, ran 2:09:05 to win the 2024 Trials 3rd Finisher Looks Set for Olympic Marathon in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday. The 27-year-old Utah resident ran the entire race next to his training partner Clayton Young, who placed second in 2:09:06.
Leonard Korir finished third in 2:09:57. Fourth at the Trials four years ago, Korir will leave Orlando not knowing whether he’ll run the Olympic Marathon in Paris in August. See below for a quick explanation of why.
Zach Panning, who led for most of the race, faded to sixth over the final miles and finished in that spot with a 2:10:50.
Easy Early
A few runners had predicted the race would be run at 2:08 pace from the start. Instead, the first five miles were more moderate, run at 2:11 marathon pace, with the 30-plus-man pack mostly headed by relative unknowns. That’s typical for a Trials race, where there’s little to no incentive for top contenders to run aggressively early on.
Panning started running just under 4:50 per mile in the sixth mile, and the lead pack quickly dwindled to fewer than 15. Panning’s move needed to be covered. He placed 12th (and first American) in last summer’s world championships. Plus, as the current star of the Hansons-Brook group, he is trained to know exactly what he’s capable of. The pace he started clicking off was almost identical with what he had done in his last major session before the Trials, a 26.2-kilometer effort at 4:47 per mile.
Panning led a pack of 10 through halfway in 64:07, tantalizingly close to the 2:08:10 Olympic standard.
The next significant development happened early in the 17th mile. Panning pushed again, upping the pace to 4:44. The pack went from 10 to seven within a minute. The biggest casualty was the winner of the previous two marathon trials, Galen Rupp, who was unable to cover the move. How Nia Akins Realized She Loves Track, the slowest marathon of his career.
Top Three Separate Themselves
As Panning kept the pressure on with miles in the low 4:50s, the pack whittled further. Mantz and Young most easily maintained contact. Andrew Colley and Elkanah Kibet kept close for half a mile before having to let go in the 19th mile. (Colley dropped out soon after.) Mantz and Young, still tucked behind Panning, slapped hands in an apparent early celebration of making the team.
The lead trio passed 20 miles in 1:37:22. That was significant because it meant that anything faster than 30:48, just under 5:00 per mile, for the final 10K would result in breaking 2:08:10 and earning the third U.S. spot in the Olympic Marathon.
And just like that, the pace slowed. With Panning still leading, the trio covered the next two miles in 4:59 and 5:07. Panning’s previously unflappable demeanor became a grimace. Mantz moved into the lead for the first time but, with a 5:06 23rd mile, didn’t push to lose Panning.
While Mantz and Young ran the shortest line in the shade, Panning drifted to the other side of the road to grab a bottle of water. The previous 15 miles of hard running in 70-degree conditions were obviously taking a toll.
Panning said after the race that he started to worry he wouldn’t place third with about four miles to go. But, he said, “I executed the race plan. I got a little antsy a little early. I’m really proud of how I raced and I think I did everything I could.”
In the 24th mile, Young went to the front, with Mantz tucked right behind. As Young motioned to someone along the course, the rubber band connecting Panning to the two training partners from Utah snapped irreparably. The two fastest qualifiers were en route to making their first Olympic team.
During a 5:03 25th mile, Young looked much fresher than Mantz. Young frequently checked on Mantz to make sure his friend was still latched on; when he wasn’t doing that he was urging the crowd to cheer louder. “I thought I might collapse and not finish,” Mantz said about his struggle to hold form toward the end of the race.
As the pair neared the finish, Young ran toward the crowd in the hope of finding an American flag to carry. When one didn’t materialize, he rejoined Mantz in the middle of the road. They ran side by side, as they have for thousands of miles. As Mantz got a step on Young with the finish line approaching, Young graciously gestured for Mantz to maintain his momentum and finish first.
“I wouldn’t change it for the world,” Young said about how history will record the race’s places. “He deserves it just as much as I do.”
Young later summarized their relationship with words any runner with a good training partner can appreciate.
“Conner and I are better when we work together,” he said.
What Now for Korir?
The men’s race differed from typical Trials contests in that only two Olympic spots were guaranteed at the start. Quick recap: World Athletics, the international governing body of track and field, Run/Walk a Race to fill the 80-man Olympic Marathon field. Each country can send a maximum of three men. Those spots are secured by running 2:08:10 or faster in an eligible race, placing in the top five in Other Hearst Subscriptions, Conner Mantz Wins the Men’s Race at the 2024 U.S. Trials 3rd Finisher Looks Set for Olympic Marathon.
At the start of today’s race, only Mantz and Young had broken 2:08:10 during the qualifying period. Their doing so resulted in two spots for U.S. runners (not necessarily Mantz and Young) in the Olympic Marathon. That reality meant the usual third-place-is-as-good-as-first mindset wasn’t a valid approach as the men stood on the start line.
There are theoretically a few ways for Korir to be able to run in Paris. The most obvious, breaking 2:08:10 on an eligible course before April 30, isn’t an option, because USA Track & Field (USATF) has said it won’t allow chasing time standards after the Trials. It’s unclear at this point what USATF would do if Korir ran 2:08:09 at, say, the London Marathon in April. Under the World Athletics system, his doing so would unlock the third spot. In the few hours after the Trials, USATF representatives were unable to clarify to Runner’s World Tested: The Nike Vomero.
The most likely way for Korir to be able to run in Paris is that today’s performance, perhaps augmented by a fast half marathon in the spring, will improve his world ranking enough by May 5, when World Athletics will release the final list of qualified entrants for Paris. However, at this point, 63 of the 80 spots have been claimed by time qualifiers. USATF has told Runner’s World that it believes World Athletics will prioritize time qualifiers over other types of qualifiers. If that’s the case, there might be only a handful of rankings qualifiers announced on May 5.
Another scenario: Korir would be named to the U.S. team if a different American man other than Mantz and Young break 2:08:10 on an eligible course (read: not Boston) by April 30. Why USATF would value a sub-2:08:10 run by someone other than Korir more than one by him is also unclear.
Beyond the Podium
Among the 200 starters, there were some notable results beyond the top three. Elkanah Kibet, age 40, placed fourth in 2:10:02; his time is the new U.S. master’s record. CJ Albertson, who led the 2021 Boston Marathon for the first 20 miles, placed fifth in 2:10:07.
Scott Fauble, the fifth fastest qualifier for today’s race, dropped out before the 11-mile mark. Five-time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman, at age 47 the oldest man in the field, also dropped out before 20K. Sam Chelanga, the fourth fastest qualifier, and Jake Riley, who placed second at the 2020 Trials, dropped out after 18 miles.
Cindy Kuzma contributed reporting to this story.
