My guest for today's episode is Conner Mantz, the newly minted American record holder in the half marathon. Conner's historic performance at the 2025 Houston Half saw him cross the finish line in 59:17, taking a remarkable 26 seconds off Ryan Hall's long standing record from 2007.

Conner joins us to break down every step of that historic performance, from his strategic surges, to his final kick, and how he overcame setbacks in training to achieve one of the most coveted records in American distance running. He reflects on his journey from running his first half marathon at age 12 to becoming the fastest American over the distance.

Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram

Guest: Conner Mantz | @connermantz on Instagram

Episode Highlights:

The following excerpt has been edited lightly for clarity.

On what gave him the green light to race Houston despite the quad injury:

"I was very worried about how long the distance was, but we did a workout on Tuesday that felt very easy. It wasn't that long of a workout and wasn’t insanely intense, but things clicked really well. That gave me confidence that the American record might actually be a possibility again."

On more athletes vocalizing their goals like Joe Klecker saying he wanted to attack the American record:

"There's a little bit of fear with hyping yourself up before a race because then if you don't perform, everyone's like, ‘Well, you suck. You’re just running for the publicity of it.’ But I think it definitely helped me going in with expecting to run hard, to run fast… I think the hype definitely helped a lot more people to want to be in that race... There were going to be so many people in this field that were wanting to run fast. If a lot of them were American going to run under a certain time, the rest of us could push ourselves to that new limit."

On the controversial* finish and missing out on a $20,000 course record bonus:

"With 100-120m to go, when I saw the clock, I was like, ‘Oh! I’m gonna get (the record)!’ And I wasn’t focused on racing. I kinda ran around the guys but then they’d pass me and I was just not thinking too much about it. My instincts were trying to kick in but my thoughts were, ‘I’ve done it! This is it!’ It’s not like the Olympic Trials where I needed to finish. I could’ve celebrated for 30 seconds and I had the American record. I could just be jogging the last 200m and I’ve got it. 40m to go, I was like, ‘Oh crap! I need to kick!’

I ended with a lot of energy. I had a lot left in the tank because I was so focused on conserving. I didn’t want to blow up. I’d look really foolish if I went and was on pace at like 15K and then I’d take the lead, try to break the rest of the field and I end up running 59:50. I’d really look really foolish and then those guys run 59:20. I didn’t want to risk blowing up. I wanted to have those guys to break the wind for me. I would sometimes take the lead but Gobena and Gabriel Geay really wanted to lead so I’d sometimes tuck in.

Looking back at it, he was definitely running wide and trying to push me on the outside. That’s frustrating. I didn’t really care after because he did a lot of the leading. Then, somebody told me there was a $20,000 bonus for the course record. I was like, ‘Holy crap! That’s a ton of money!’ I heard that in the afternoon and thought, ‘Why didn’t I try harder?’ In the moment, it was, ‘I’ve got the American record. That’s all I care about!’ But when I heard it was a $22,000 difference between first and second, I didn’t know there was any bonus for the course record…I just wanted the American record and beat all the other Americans, who I thought would run the American record. I was pumped and so excited immediately after.

I definitely had a lot more in me. I know that I could run this pace for like 15 miles. I’m confident in that. Take out the headwind at the end though – say we don’t have to do it into the wind – and I could keep that pace for two more miles.

That’s a car right there. I could have a car with proper heating. Would I actually buy it, or am I too much of a cheapskate to spend the money? I think I would. I would do something special."

Why does he think Ryan Hall’s record stood for so long?

"It was an incredible record – especially, pre-super shoes. Meb had one go at it and I don’t think it went well. Since super shoes, very few people have gone for it. Leonard Korir kind of did. Ritz was close. Galen’s been close. Since everyone’s had super shoes, I don’t think many people have gone for it and had a build going into a half."

Do the “...but super shoes” comments bother him?

"Not too much because I still have the record. I’ll take that. There was one time we were driving to a meet at the Sound Running 10K in 2021 and Coach Eyestone told me that if I broke his school record, he would never bring up super shoes as a reason as to why I broke record. I ran .11 slower than his record. I fell off pace. I ran some slow laps and closed in 60s. I missed it. In that moment, I realized, ‘Holy crap. I ran insanely fast and I’m a cross country national champion but I’m not as fast as Coach Eyestone was in those shoes that were probably not as good as even the Nike Matumbos. The Dragonfly is so much better than anything anyone has ran in before that.’ That just gave me a lot more respect for who he was as an athlete. His splits were a lot more impressive too. He went out in 14:00 and came back in 13:41."

Chasing a sub-4:00 mile:

“I’d love to. That’s been on my bucket list. I tell people all the time and I think people are sick of it. I haven’t broken 4:00. The two questions people ask me professionally are: ‘Have you broken 4:00?’ or ‘Have you run the Boston Marathon?’ I just want to break 4:00 to say I did it. That’s the goal every high school kid who runs the mile has. One day, they want to be a sub-4:00 miler. I owe it to my 14-year-old high school freshman self. It’s been 14 years that thought has been on the back of my mind."

How does this Houston performance impact his plans and goals for Boston:

“This gives me the confidence that I can run with some of the top East Africans. Some of the top ones. I can go with some of these moves and try to be there. That’s what I really take from this. When those moves are made, I can cover them and I don’t have to worry about how I am going to finish. Another thing is that some of these East Africans when they make a move, they just go with it. They don’t even think about it. That’s why they have all these insane times more than most Americans because they’re always shooting for the stars. Probably 30% of the time it works but I’m gonna need to have that attitude if I’m going to compete up in front.”

Does he believe he can win the Boston Marathon?

"On my right day and some other people’s not right day, yeah - I think so. I think there’s a possibility for this year. In the future, I’m pretty confident that one day I can do it.”

Thoughts on the American marathon record of 2:05:38:

“I feel bad because the last time we talked, I said I wanted to go for a fast one like maybe Tokyo or maybe Rotterdam. I was thinking of what marathon to do this Spring. It came down to the Majors because those are the ones that treat you the best from what I’ve experienced. I’ve never raced a marathon that wasn’t a Major other than the Olympics and Olympic Trials. But when I was thinking it through of which one to do, I decided: 1) I wanted to do Boston because it’s an American race. There’s things about it that are enticing. But It’s not record eligible. Do I really want to do Boston? I decided I could go for a record in Houston and make Boston about racing. Then in the fall, I’ll decide on a marathon, go for a record and make it a fast time."

Listen to the full episode with Conner Mantz on the CITIUS MAG Podcast.

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