Tag: Mantz

A former BYU Cougar will chase history Sunday as he takes on the Houston Half Marathon alongside some of the top distance runners in the country.

Conner Mantz will attempt to break the American record for the half marathon, but he’ll have to beat more than just Ryan Hall’s time of 59:43 from 2007 to do it.

Mantz wil also need to stay in front of 10K specialist Joe Klecker, who has been training with the goal of besting Hall’s record.

Despite the fact that Sunday will be Klecker’s first-ever official half marathon, Mantz credited the Boulder-based runner with motivating him to enter the race.

“Pretty much when I heard that Joe was running it, I was like alright I want to be in this race. If he’s gonna go out and run 59:30, I want to be there to try and beat him so I can be the one that takes the record,” Mantz said during a Friday press conference.

In recognition of their star power and budding rivalry, Citius Mag released a mini-documentary series on Mantz and Klecker this week, which tracks how they prepared for the Houston Half.

“I don’t know how fit I am right now. I don’t know if I’m going to be fit enough to even come close to the American record in the half, but I’m going to go for it either way. If I blow up, it’s fine. What do I have to lose?,” Mantz said in the first of the series’ two episodes.

The Mantz segments include his friend, training partner and fellow BYU Cougar Clayton Young, who also has a shot at the American record Sunday.

Mantz’s personal best time in the half marathon is 1:00:55, while Young’s is 1:01:18, per FloTrack.

While at BYU, Mantz claimed two national cross-country titles in 2020 and 2021, and Young was the 10K champion at the NCAA outdoor championships in 2019.

The pair is now best known for their marathon careers.

They raced together in the Olympic Marathon in August, where Mantz finished 8th in 2:08:12 and Young finished 9th in 2:08:44, as the Deseret News reported at the time.

Although the Houston Half Marathon is typically a fast race and Sunday’s event will feature several runners looking to push the tempo, Mantz noted during Thursday’s press conference that factors like the weather could interfere with efforts to set a new American record.

Texas, like much of the country, has been hit by an arctic blast this weekend. It’s supposed to be in the 30s in Houston on Sunday, per local news station KIAH.

More than 37,000 total runners will compete in the Houston Half Marathon, the article said.

Futsum Zienasellassie, Hilary Bor, Morgan Pearson, Frank Lara and Diego Estrada are the other top American men competing alongside Mantz, Young and Klecker, FloTrack reported.

“With a field like this, you could definitely get some really fast times. … I want to be in that race whether I’m ready or not,” Mantz said Thursday.