Conner Mantz broke the American marathon record at the Chicago Marathon on Sunday.
The record had stood for 23 years. Khalid Khannouchi, who was born in Morocco but became a U.S. citizen in 2000, set the record in 2002 with a time of 2:05:38.
Prior to Sunday, Mantz was tied for fifth fastest among American marathoners, as the Deseret News previously reported.
“That was a great feeling to get the American record,” Mantz told NBC afterwards, as the Deseret News reported. “Those last few miles were really tough. With 10 miles to go I started doing the math — what pace do I need to get the American record.”
But it’s what Mantz did before he wrote his name in the history books that has caught the internet’s attention.
Running coach Norman Simon shared a video on Instagram that said, “The moment that showed who Conner Mantz really is.”
Nearly 15 minutes into the pro marathon, the broadcast caught Mantz grabbing water from an aid station during the race. He took a few sips from the bottle and then noticed Zouhair Talbi running next to him.
Talbi had missed out on his water.
Mantz appeared to check the amount of water left in his bottle, took another sip and handed it to Talbi to finish off.
Mantz’s coach, BYU’s Ed Eyestone, provided color commentary of the race, and during the broadcast, he said that his runners practice grabbing the water bottle while running.
“We do that at practice all the time,” he said. “In fact their last workout, we do right on the track and we have them practice getting the bottle every mile that they run,” Eyestone said.
When Eyestone saw Mantz hand his bottle to Talbi, he said, “Good to see him get that first bottle and look at that. He’s sharing it right there with Talbi, and it’s not unusual for him to do that. That’s a camaraderie that we have in the marathon.”
Mantz went on to place fourth and shatter the American record, and Talbi finished 11th (2:07:27).
Author and performance coach Steve Magness shared his thoughts on the moment between Mantz and Talbi in a post on X.
“Take yesterday’s Chicago Marathon. Conner Mantz set the American Record. But midway through the race, he shares his fueling bottle with a competitor who missed theirs. Two men battling each other with tens of thousands of dollars in prize money on the line ... Yet, they help one another out. That’s respect for the craft, the moment, and the shared suffering of doing something hard,” Magness wrote.
Mantz earned $30,000 for finishing in fourth place and another $15,000 as the race’s top American finisher, Sportico reported.