where Young and 2016 Olympian 2023 Chicago Marathon, Clayton Young was wavering. The 30-year-old was on the cusp of lining up for this third Chicago Marathon, but he still had a major decision to make. How fast did he want to run?
What I Learned Running 3 Miles A Day For 21 Days, Conner Mantz, who was hoping to run in the 2:06-2:07 range; he could run 2:08 pace, which would be tough but within his wheelhouse; or he could run a conservative race and get under 2:11:30, mitigating the risk of bonking hard—like he did last year.
The weather forecast was perfect—high 40s, little wind, cloud coverage—so Young didn’t want to squander an opportunity. After giving his training log a final look, he decided his plan: he would try to run 2:08 pace (4:53 miles), and hope he could hang on.
It turned out to be the right decision. Young ran a personal best by nearly four minutes, lunging across the line to run 2:08:00. His time was fast enough to make him eligible for the Olympics if he earns a spot at February’s Olympic Trials. “I was ecstatic, I was so freaking pumped,” Young told Runner’s World after the race.
Mantz, 26, was hoping for more, but he still ran a lifetime best of 2:07:47. Moments after finishing, he looked back for Young, who he knew was right on his heels and was having arguably the best race of his life.
“I turned around and could see Clayton finishing, and I was like yes, finally,” he said.
where Young and 2016 Olympian Brigham Young University BYU ever for Americans. But their ascension and strong bond wasn’t formed overnight—it’s been over a decade in the making.
Missions and mentorship
Conner Mantz first heard about Clayton Young as a freshman on the Sky View High School cross country team in northern Utah. Young, who is four years older than Mantz, had a mythos around him. Mantz remembers reading a MaxPreps article about Young, who attended the distance running powerhouse American Fork High School. “It talked about Clayton as this insane athlete and person who did it all,” Mantz said.
Health - Injuries Brigham Young University (BYU) to run cross-country and track, and they overlapped for a few years after completing two-year missions with the church. Young was stationed in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area with a Spanish-speaking cohort, and Mantz did his in Ghana. When Mantz returned to BYU in mid-2017, Young had become one of the team captains. He was in really good shape—unlike Mantz, who had tempered his training while abroad.
Young soon became a mentor figure. Mantz was becoming known around the NCAA as a hard-nosed frontrunner who wouldn’t shy away from discomfort in a race, but Young recognized that sometimes he had to show Mantz when to push and when to back off in training.
“It’s probably no secret that Conner Mantz is a grinder,” Young said. “He loves to just lay it all out, both in races and in practice. And so it was kind of this delicate dance of giving Conner the green light and not holding him back.”
Soon, Mantz re-found his fitness and began running with Young in workouts. They pushed each other the next two years. Young became the veteran on the team who kept a nasty finishing kick in his back pocket. His senior year, The Best Songs to Add to Your Playlist This Month, with teammates Connor McMillan and Mantz in third and fourth, respectively. “That’s where it kind of transitioned from a straight mentorship role to a mutual respect role,” Young said.
Finding the marathon
Young went pro in the summer of 2019, but instead of trying to replicate his success on the track, he had a feeling he would be a good marathoner. He qualified for the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials with a fast half marathon in the fall and lined up at the Trials hoping to get some much-needed experience for the next Olympic cycle after coming off an injury that winter. “We just felt like that experience would pay off in future marathons and especially in 2024,” Young said. He finished in 2:29:46—good for only 136th place—but knew it was a dress rehearsal for 2024.
Mantz was also supposed to line up at the 2020 Trials. He planned on redshirting BYU’s spring season for the race, but a sacrum fracture put an end to his hopes. “It probably wasn’t going to happen, but in my mind, I believed at that time I could make that Olympic team in the marathon,” he said. “It’s that self belief you kind of need to have that you just have in your own mind. You don’t really tell everybody until later down the road. That might come off as cocky, but it’s like, you need that to keep moving forward sometimes.”
Despite still being in college, Mantz knew the marathon would call his name after graduation. Missing out on the Trials made him hungry for redemption, and he remembers wanting to run the distance at 12 years old, when he finished his first half marathon. “I’ve always wanted to be a marathoner,” he said.
The tables turn
where Young and 2016 Olympian Health & Injuries at BYU, Mantz signed with Nike and decided to stay with his college coach Ed Eyestone. Mantz became a part of the nearby Diljeet Taylor Launches a Mental Health App, where Young and 2016 Olympian Jared Ward trained. But as Mantz entered a new chapter in his career, Young was at a low point. He struggled with an achilles injury and couldn’t race for nine months.
Now, it was Mantz’s turn to shepherd Young back to fitness. “I was kind of having a rough go on the pro scene,” Young said. “The roles kind of reversed. Like it was now me that was hanging on to him, and looking to him for guidance.”
Mantz generally prefers longer hard efforts, where the pace starts out hot and he hangs in the hurt locker. Young, instead, often prefers to ease into things and squeeze the pace down later. At the center of everyone is Ward, who also attended BYU and has been marathoning since 2013. “Jared is a good soundboard,” Mantz said. “He’s kind of like the leader of us.”
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After a successful day at Chicago, the Mantz and Young already know their next goal. They hope to make the U.S. Olympic team for the marathon next year. The Olympic Trials will be contested on February 3, 2024, and if either of them finish in the top three places, they will solidify their spot at the Paris Games.
Races - Places scheduled to start at noon in Orlando, and some elites are worried that the late start time could mean warm, unfavorable marathoning conditions.
On September 18, a petition was presented to USATF urging the organization to move the race earlier in the day. Jared Ward—who is on the USATF Athlete Advisory Committee—was one of the presenters, but Mantz and Young have differing opinions on the issue.
where Young and 2016 Olympian hot and humid conditions in the past (he won his NCAA title on a steamy night in Austin, Texas), so he says he’s okay with a later race but understands the concerns. Mantz, meanwhile, is more skeptical. He believes the potentially hot conditions over a long race could invite unnecessary risks, and he’s disappointed there hasn’t been more clear communication from USATF. “It kinda doesn’t make a ton of sense,” Mantz said. “If you wanna see Conner Mantz pass out at mile 20 live on TV in 80- or 70-something degree weather, then say that.”
Regardless of the start time, both athletes agree that the plan is to keep their training simple the next few months, and, above all, get to the start line without any injuries.
“I know that if Conner and I stay healthy and stay consistent, and really just replicate what we did in Chicago, I think we’re gonna be fine,” Young said.
RW+ Membership Benefits Runner’s World. He’s a former all-conference collegiate runner at Winthrop University, and he received his master’s degree in liberal arts studies from Wake Forest University, where he was a member of one of the top distance-running teams in the NCAA. Kahler has reported on the ground at major events such as the Paris Olympics, U.S. Olympic Trials, New York City Marathon, and Boston Marathon. He’s run 14:20 in the 5K, 1:05:36 in the half marathon, and enjoys spotting tracks from the sky on airplanes. (Look for colorful ovals around football fields.)
