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American record-holder Conner Mantz withdraws from Boston Marathon
The last year’s top American and fourth-place finisher has been dealing with injury since the fall.
Conner Mantz, the American record-holder expected to be a top contender at this month’s Boston Marathon, announced Tuesday that he’s withdrawing from the race.
Last year’s top American and fourth-place finisher has been dealing with injury since the fall, with disrupted training in recent weeks.
“Unfortunately, my fitness has not progressed well enough for me to be able to race the upcoming Boston Marathon at my best,” Mantz said. “I am very disappointed but look forward to being back racing soon.”
The Utah native had a spectacular 2025, setting American records in the half marathon (59 minutes, 17 seconds) and marathon (2:04:43). The latter performance broke a 23-year-old record as Mantz took fourth at the Chicago Marathon in October.
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Mantz was one of the stars of last year’s Boston Marathon, pushing the pace for the pack chasing John Korir. Mantz set a personal best of 2:05:08 but had to settle for fourth in a sprint finish with Kenya’s Cybrian Kotut and Tanzania’s Alphonce Felix Simbu.
The 29-year-old Mantz was expected to be the top American contender in Boston again this year, but injuries derailed his training. Mantz dealt with a sacral stress fracture in the aftermath of the Chicago Marathon that kept him off the roads until late January.
Mantz has always shared most (if not all) of his training on the running social media app Strava, and his running seemed to be returning to normal through the start of March, before suddenly tapering off and vanishing after March 11.
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Mantz’s withdrawal leaves training partner Clayton Young as the top American contender on Patriots Day. Young’s personal best of 2:07:04, set in a seventh-place finish in Boston last year, is the second-best of the remaining Americans.
Two-time Olympic medalist Galen Rupp is the only American with a better personal best — a 2:06:07 in Prague in 2018 — but the 39-year-old hasn’t raced at the highest level since a second-place finish in Chicago in 2021.
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