WITH THE OLYMPIC YEAR behind him, Conner Mantz ended 2024 with the usual bit of self-reflection. Despite some notable achievements booked, the now 2-time No. 1 U.S. marathoner realized, “For the first time in my career I didn’t PR in anything last year. The year before, I PRed in the 1500, in the marathon and that has been it.”
Determined to upgrade his best times to match the pedigree of his 8th-place finish in the Paris marathon, the 28-year-old Mantz kicked off 2025 with a PR and it was a biggie as at the Houston Half-Marathon he lowered the American Record to 59:17, paring 26 seconds off Ryan Hall’s venerable 59:43 standard set on the same Houston circuit in 2007.
As valiant as Mantz’s record-setting effort was, he finished scant inches away from the win, edged at the line by 20-year-old Ethiopian Addisu Gobena whose final stride resembled a shielding tactic more common on a soccer pitch.
Gobena got the same-time win and course record along with the significant cash upgrade. He said, “I knew that really fast times may be possible here. I wanted to improve my time [60:51], I knew that it could be done, and it turned out to be a really good race.”
Mantz was a bit miffed as to how the finish played out, but was quick to acknowledge Gobena’s efforts to maintain the record pace: “It was close, it was inches, we were finishing together and I passed him right after the line. My goal today was to run a fast time. Obviously, I want to win, but if he’s the one pushing the pace so I can drop almost a minute-and-a-half off my personal best, I’m happy with that.”
American Record chatter abounded heading into the race but prospects dimmed as an Arctic blast blew through Houston hours before the race, dropping temperatures into the mid-30s amid blustery northwest winds, though also delivering a performance-accommodating 25-degree dew point.
Lone pacer Amon Kemboi rode to the rescue as he lit out from the start, blasting an 8:30 opening 3K straight into the wind, bold enough that only Mantz, Gobena, two-time Houston champ Jemal Yimer and Tanzanian Gabriel Gerald Geay latched onto his lead.
Turning out of the wind, Kemboi’s steady effort netted a pair of 2:46 Ks to cross the 5K mat in 14:02 and the record chase was on. Mantz admitted “going…
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