Conner Mantz surged in the closing moments to break the American half marathon record, crossing the line in 59:17 at the Houston Half Marathon on Sunday.
Mantz and Addisu Gobena battled shoulder-to-shoulder in a final sprint and both were credited with the same time, with Gobena barely taking the win at the line.
But for Mantz, a long-time American record fell as he shattered Ryan Hall’s 18-year-old 59:43 mark that was set back in 2007 at the same race in Houston.
“I’m grateful to be out here and compete and try and go for the win. But also when things get really hard it was all about how do I still get that record if these guys start speeding,” Mantz said during the broadcast after the race. “It’s a special one to me because the half marathon is how I got into running. The way I go into running was trying to finish a half marathon when I was 12-years-old and my dad inspired me to just try to finish the half marathon.”
As the lead pack that formed early on dwindles, Mantz, Gobena, Gabriel Geay and Jemal Yimer locked in for a last push on the final straightaway. Mantz eased ahead of the group briefly as Gobena matched him and both runners took off for a dash to the line.
It was unclear initially who won the race as they broke the tape, but Gobena leaned toward Mantz and claimed the win after a review.
“About 4 or 5k to go I realized ‘oh crap, I’m struggling’ we’re running into to the wind. We’re slowing down a lot,” Mantz said. “I knew where about 100 meters to go was and was like ‘I can win this right now. Why am I at least not sprinting toward the finish?”
Geay was third in 59:18 and Yimer was fourth with 59:20 a finish.
But for Mantz, most of his strategy fell into place despite chilly conditions on the course. His second place time earned him $8,000 for second place plus a $10,000 bonus for breaking the American record, on the same day when Weini Kelati pulled off a similar feat in Houston.
“This is a record I really wanted and I want to lower it down the road,” Mantz said. “But I’m grateful to hit a time I’ve been wanting to hit for a long time.”
Elite men’s field
1. Addisu GOBENA (Ethiopia) – 59:17
2. Conner MANTZ (USA) – 59:17
3. Gabriel Gerald GEAY (Tanzania) – 59:18
4. Jemal MEKONEN (Ethiopia) – 59:20
5. Patrick DEVER (Great Britain) – 1:00:11
6. Hillary BOR (USA) – 1:00:20
7. Wesley KIPTOO (Kenya) – 1:00:34
8. Andrew COLLEY (USA) – 1:00:47
9. Alex MAIER (USA) – 1:00:51
10. Clayton YOUNG (USA) – 1:00:52
11. Marcelo LAGUERA (Mexico) – 1:00:53
12. Reed FISCHER (USA) – 1:00:54
13. Morgan MCDONALD (Australia) – 1:00:58
14. Ryan FORD (USA) – 1:00:59
15. Morgan PEARSON (USA) – 1:01:01
16. Johannes MOTSCHMANN (Germany) – 1:01:03
17. Alex Chesiro MASAI (Kenya) – 1:01:04
18. Joe KLECKER (USA) – 1:01:06
19. Peter LYNCH (Israel) – 1:01:15
20. Abe GASHAHUN (Ethiopia) – 1:01:15
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