Conner Mantz just misses podium at Boston Marathon, finishing 4th

SALT LAKE CITY — Conner Mantz's breakout season continued Monday, and a Boston Marathon title seems as close to an inevitability as it's ever been.

Mantz just missed his first-ever podium finish in the marathon by just four seconds, eclipsing the 26.2-mile course in 2 hours, 5 minutes and 8 seconds Monday.

The former BYU star was one of three Utah harriers to finish in the top 10, joining former teammate Clayton Young and Rory Linkletter, who runs internationally for his native Canada.

Mantz clocked the second-fastest time by an American male in Boston Marathon history.

Linkletter closed just ahead of Young down the stretch, finishing sixth overall in 2:07:02 and just ahead of Mantz's training partner Young in seventh in 2:07:04.

All three set new personal-best times in the finish. Mantz and Young were the top-two American finishers, with Ryan Ford the third in 02:08:00.

John Korir, last year's Chicago Marathon champion, won the men's race in 2:04:45, followed by Alphonce Felix Simbu in 2:05:04 and Cybrian Kotut in 2:05:04. Sharon Lokedi broke the Boston Marathon course record in the women's race with a time of 2:17:22.

"Today was difficult, for sure," Mantz told ESPN after concluding as the top American finisher for the second year in a row. "But it was a blast to be in Boston and compete with the best in the world. I was happy to be there, fighting for second with about a quarter mile to go. ... But the other guys were just too strong."

Mantz has been one of the breakout stars of American distance running through 2024. His finish in Boston comes eight months after finishing eighth in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and three months after breaking the 18-year-old American record in the half marathon.

A few weeks after breaking the half-marathon record with a 58:17 mark in Houston, he clocked an even faster time in New York City (59:15), but that course was not eligible for records.

That set up the 129th edition of the Boston Marathon, where the 28-year-old who prepped at Sky View High was viewed as a legitmate contender to be the first American to win Boston since Meb Keflezighi in 2014.

Mantz himself doesn't back down from the hype, either. The two-time NCAA national champion at BYU has lofty goals, and he isn't afraid to speak them into existence.

"I think going forward, this is a race I can win," he told ESPN. "I made some big progress. ... It was a race that I improved a lot. Two years ago, John Korir was ninth, I believe, and we ran a lot of that race together. Seeing him win it this year gives me some confidence for years in the future."

The Cache Valley native who has competed with Nike since 2021 and trains in Utah County with his former college coach Ed Eyestone and Utah's Run Elite Program, hung in the top 10 for most of the race. He briefly dropped out around the 23-mile mark, but after surging past the famous Heartbreak Hill, Mantz was back in fourth at the 40K mark in 1:58:23.

That was 59 seconds behind Korir, but well within the lead pack that trailed the 28-year-old Kenyan road runner. Mantz said he tried to stay with Korir during his race-defining kick around the 20th mile.

"This year, I paced it a lot better," Mantz said.

"I thought if I ran my second half in 63:30 or faster, I'd be able to compete for the win," he added. "When John Korir made the move around Mile 20, I tried to go with it, but it was just too quick, and I thought I'd compete for second."

Shortly off Mantz's heels were fellow BYU alums Young, the former American Fork star who lives in Springville and runs for Asics; and Linkletter, the former Herriman High standout who lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, and competes professionally with Puma.

Young was in seventh after after 25 miles, approaching the home stretch with a time of 2:02:03, just four seconds ahead of eighth-place Linkletter before the final stretch that saw Linkletter edge his former BYU teammate.

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