Conner Mantz smashed an 18-year-old American record Sunday by finishing the Houston Half Marathon in 59:17.
His time was 26 seconds faster than Ryan Hall’s record-setting 2007 run, but Mantz still felt like he walked off the course with gas left in the tank.
In a Monday interview with the “Citius Mag Podcast,” Mantz described his excitement about setting a new half-marathon record, as well as his regret over not pushing harder at the end of the race.
Mantz finished just 0.01 seconds behind winner Addisu Gobena of Ethiopia and missed out on a $20,000 course record bonus as a result.
While the former BYU runner said that Gobena was running wide as they approached the finish line, he added that he is most frustrated about not starting his own final kick earlier.
“I’m more just mad at myself for getting too caught up in the record and not caught up enough in the sprint finish,” he said on the podcast.
At several points in the interview, Mantz said or implied that he could have had an even better time if he hadn’t had to worry about strong winds or the potential backlash for running out of steam in the final few miles.
He spent much of the race tucking in behind Gobena and others in the lead pack instead of making a push to leave them behind.
That strategy helped him avoid direct wind and “blowing up” at the last minute, but it also left Mantz with questions about whether he’d been too conservative.
His comments illustrated some of the trade-offs professional runners have to consider before trying to break a record.
Mantz told podcast host Chris Chavez that the previous American half-marathon record likely stood for 18 years because there weren’t enough incentives enticing distance runners to put off other goals to try to break it.
Mantz’s own attempt at the record was nearly thrown off by a quad injury on New Year’s Eve. He told Chavez that he canceled plans with friends that night to sulk and worry about how much time he’d need to rest his leg.
Mantz ultimately spent much of early January doing arm workouts, including long swims, in order to let his quad heal. He went into Sunday’s race willing to drop out mid-run if something felt wrong.
“It’s crazy that the race went so well,” Mantz said.
Mantz felt so good after the Houston Half that he jumped right back into Boston Marathon training on Monday. He told Chavez that setting a new American record in the half-marathon was “surreal” but not that hard on his body.
“I’m feeling pretty good. ... It’s not like a marathon where your legs are just trashed afterwards. I’m sore, but I don’t feel like I did anything special,” Mantz said.
He noted that he celebrated with some tres leches cake and Mexican food on Sunday but didn’t do anything too crazy.
“Other than getting like a million text and Instagram messages, it’s just like life just keeps moving,” he said.
Mantz said he wasn’t sure if Hall, the former record holder, had tried to get in touch since he still had 95 unread text messages.
Mantz’s next big event will be the Boston Marathon on April 21.
When asked if he’ll go for the win there, he didn’t rule it out.
“On my right day and some other people’s not right day, I could win,” Mantz said.