Spurred by faith and friendship, two buddies chase marathon medals in Paris
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Clayton Young (L) and Conner Mantz celebrate after placing second and first during the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials — Marathon in February.Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images North America -
Clayton Young (L) and Conner Mantz during the Olympic trials in February.James Gilbert / Getty Images North America
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PARIS — When runners take their places at the starting line of the men’s Olympic marathon on Saturday, among them will be two friends and training partners, who have logged thousands of miles together.
As two of the three men representing team U.S.A., Conner Mantz and Clayton Young have their eyes set on a shared goal: a strong finish at the Paris games. This moment is years in the making, from their first run together, in 2017 at Utah’s Brigham Young University.
“We were a pack of 15 to 20 guys. He had just come back from serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he was probably, you know, 20 to 30 pounds overweight, but he was just hanging on for dear life,” Young recalled of Mantz.
The way Mantz describes it, he was just trying to hang on.
“I stayed up with them for about four-and-a-half miles before I was like, there is no way I can hold this pace,” he said.
But even then, Young saw something in Mantz.
“I think that's when I first really started to discover, like, how gritty Conner is,” Young said. “He was willing to do anything and whatever it takes to get to the next level. Even if that meant just pretty much being thrown to the wolves on his first run back with the team.”
From that moment, the two men have charted parallel paths, in running and in life.
And one of the biggest moments in their arc came in February, at the Olympic marathon trials in Orlando. The two longtime training partners needed a one-two finish to punch their tickets to Paris.
And like many moments in their running careers, it was one that showcased their partnership.
For much of the early race, runner Zach Panning led and set an aggressive pace. Young says by the time that he and Mantz reached mile 16, they began to feel confident that they could qualify for Paris.
At one point, Mantz extended his hand to Young.
“And I finally realized that he wants a high-five. And so I give him this high-five, and it's probably the sloppiest high-five you'll ever see on national television,” Young said. “But it was this cool moment where I got to really realize that Conner was still Team Clayton. Like, he was still on my side. He was confident. He knew that we could both do this.”
Ultimately, Panning faded. The course belonged to Mantz and Young.
“It was kind of this, I don't know, fun moment. It just kind of felt like a run with Clayton, and that was pretty special,” Mantz said.
The two finished the Olympic trials marathon in February within a second of each other, running at a blazing pace of four minutes, 56 seconds per mile on average. Mission accomplished.
“I know that, honestly, having Conner there every step of the way, not only to the trials finish line but from now training all the way to the start line of the Paris Olympic marathon, that’s really where the strength comes from,” Young said. “I know that Conner is going to keep me accountable, he’s going to keep me fit, he’s going to keep me fast and focused as we approach Paris.”
Now, Mantz and Young have arrived at the next big moment in their running careers, the August 10 marathon. The women’s race will be held the following day, on the final day of Olympic competition.
Both men have been training in the region, documenting their training on Strava. But Young had an opportunity to travel to Paris months before the games.
“I had done my research for Paris, but I don’t think I realized how special it was until I got to run by every single iconic landmark in Paris,” he said.
The marathon course begins at the Hotel De Ville. Runners will follow the winding path of the River Seine through the city, past some of Paris’ iconic attractions, before sprinting out to Versailles and back again. But the scenic route also includes several steep uphill stretches, and the temperature will also be a test for runners.
“It's the toughest course that I've ever trained on for a marathon. So I think we're all going to need a little bit of good luck,” Young said.
Guided by faith
They will line up at the start with the hope that luck is on their side, but also months of consistent training. They will also both rely on their faith.
Both men are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They say their faith is a common touchstone, and that it also adds perspective to their running.
“Having that knowledge and that faith, it definitely helps in running, because then you know that running is just a sport. It’s just something for fun, but there are things that are so much more important,” said Mantz. “I think having that grounding is so necessary when you have, like, a bad workout or a bad race.”
“When trials and tribulations come upon us, we’re able to really lean on our faith in Jesus Christ, and lean on his atoning power and his grace,” he said.
Both Mantz and Young have already given some thought to what they might do to celebrate, after they cover the 26.2 mile course.
Mantz said he’s looking forward to hiking Mount Timpanogos, near Provo, something he hasn’t been able to do with his focus on racing.
“You know when people go out for ice cream or whatever after a race? That’s my thing,” he said. “I just want to go out and hike this hike that I’ve been wanting to do for years, but it hasn’t lined up with my training. So that’s the most selfish thing I want to do with my celebration post-race.”
Young says he’s excited to cross the finish line and be reunited with family and friends, and to hear what their race day experience was like.
“It sounds cliche, but the phrase ‘it takes a village’ really does apply to Conner and I,” he said. “It’s taken a lot of help and sacrifice and support and thoughtfulness, so just to be able to share that moment afterwards is kind of my ideal situation – some good food, and some good conversation.”
Transcript
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
I'm Juana Summers at the Paris Olympics, where, in a few short weeks, the fastest marathoners in the world will congregate at the Grand Hotel De Ville. That is Paris' City Hall, sitting on the banks of the Seine, and runners will follow the river's winding path through the city before sprinting out to Versailles and back again. Six U.S. marathoners will be running that course, three men and three women. And before they took off to Paris, I caught up with the two fastest U.S. men, who also happened to be longtime training partners and friends, Clayton Young and Conner Mantz.
CLAYTON YOUNG: There's very few people that know me as well as Conner does just because we've run thousands, if not tens of thousands, of miles together. And so we have lots of time to have great conversations.
CONNER MANTZ: It's just so beneficial to just have somebody I can talk to, and if I have a bad workout or a bad race but then Clayton does well, it's very motivating.
YOUNG: I often joke that, you know, I don't have any friends. I just have my running friends because my social cup is filled.
SUMMERS: The two friends first met on a run at Brigham Young University in 2017. And as Clayton Young remembers it, it was far from a race among equals.
YOUNG: I remember looking back on this run as we were a pack of 15 to 20 guys. He had just come back from serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and he was probably, you know, 20 to 30 pounds overweight, but he was just hanging on for dear life.
MANTZ: And I stayed up with them for about 4.5 miles before I was like, there's no way I can hold this pace.
YOUNG: And I think that's when I first really started to discover, like, how gritty Conner is.
SUMMERS: Fast-forward seven years, and the two finished the Olympic trials marathon in February within a second of each other, running at a blazing pace of four minutes, 56 seconds per mile on average. And even racing at those incredible speeds, their friendship and camaraderie during that marathon was hard to miss.
YOUNG: In fact, there's this moment on the NBC broadcast where Conner turns around and he kind of holds out his hand. And I'm thinking, what the heck do you need, Conner? Like, do you want, you know, one of my water bottles? Do you want something else? And I finally realized that he wants a high-five. And so I give him this high-five, and it's probably the sloppiest high-five you'll ever see on national television.
MANTZ: I took the lead because I was like, OK, if I feel good enough that I think I'm going to go to the Olympics...
YOUNG: And so it's just Conner and I at about mile 22, only four miles to go.
MANTZ: It was kind of this - I don't know - fun moment. It just kind of felt like a run with Clayton, and that was pretty special.
YOUNG: And that's when, in Orlando, the crowds got so loud. And we were running side by side down this home stretch, this last half-mile to the finish line.
MANTZ: Clayton was just motivating me the whole way, just yelling things, cheering me on.
YOUNG: With about 30 meters to go, in desperation, Conner puts in this little surge.
MANTZ: I did surge at the end, trying to beat him because it was a race.
YOUNG: And I put my hands out, and Conner crosses the line first. And...
MANTZ: You see us cross the finish line and then hug, and it was...
YOUNG: And it was just - you know, it was just this unreal moment.
SUMMERS: Their next big moment, of course, will be in Paris on that epic tour of the city, racing past the Tuileries Garden and the Eiffel Tower.
MANTZ: We get the grand tour. It's pretty incredible. In fact, I actually got to take my first international flight ever out to Paris to be able to train on the course. I had run all the way out to Versailles, up these beautiful kind of streets through these little, quaint towns all the way out to Versailles and then run all the way back, go loop around the Eiffel Tower and then finish at the Hotel De Invalides. But the course is going to be tough. I'm not going to lie. Like, I trained on that course for five or six days straight, and it's really hot. It's really humid in August in Paris. But more than anything, the course is really hilly and quite technical.
SUMMERS: How much of a challenge is that heat going to be? I mean, this is a scenario where it could be hotter and more humid than the trials back in February in Orlando. How much of a concern is competing in conditions like that?
MANTZ: For me, I'm pretty concerned about it because heat and humidity can be devastating for 99% of us runners, but Clayton probably won't probably have any issues because he just seems like he could run in the hottest conditions and be just fine. It doesn't affect him.
YOUNG: When I think back to the trials and just how hot and humid that was and - you know, there's supposed to be similar or worse conditions in Paris. And it can be nerve-wracking, but honestly, the more hilly it is, the more humid it is, the more hot it is, I think the better and better Conner and I's chances are of competing. We prepared so diligently for the Olympic trials, and we have a method to our madness, to be honest, and we did a lot of sauna and heat acclimization training. And I think we've only upped our game since then, and I think, honestly, it only plays to our strengths.
SUMMERS: I'm curious, though. Why do you think that is? Why do you think a course like the one in Paris is something that plays to your advantage in such a competitive field of men's marathon runners?
YOUNG: You know, Conner and I are ranked in the 60s. And so lot of people will look at that, and they'll say, well, you know, Conner and Clayton don't really have a shot. But when you really do some digging into how those rankings are made based off of time - and a lot of those times are set on courses that are pancake-flat, in perfect and ideal conditions. But to be honest, you know, that's far from what Paris will be like.
MANTZ: Yeah. The hills play to my advantage. But the heat and humidity will play a lot to Clayton's advantage, and I think that's why we're in such a good spot compared to a lot of our competitors.
SUMMERS: As you've mentioned, you've logged thousands, if not tens of thousands, of miles running together over the years. For all of those miles that you have run together, what are the two of you talking about? And I have to ask, just thinking about the speeds that you were running at, how can one even maintain a conversation when you were moving so fast?
YOUNG: When you're training for a marathon, maybe 20% of our miles are weekly miles, you know? Conner and I run anywhere between 100 and 120 miles every week. And probably only 20 of those miles are at marathon pace or faster. So you could say that we run about a hundred miles that are just at an easy, slow, moderate pace that, you know, is conversational. And so we have lots of time to have great conversations.
And, you know, most of the time it is about what's happening in terms of running. So it's, you know, what's the next race? What's the next workout? How are we recovering? How are we feeling? But, you know, Conner and I also share a lot of other passions in life. You know, we're both - went to Brigham Young University and got degrees in mechanical engineering, and so we talk a lot about engineering. We also obviously have shared faith as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and so we talk a lot about faith and trials and things that we're working through in terms of our relationships with our families and other things.
SUMMERS: I'd love to know a bit about how your faith informs the way you approach the way that you run.
MANTZ: Having that knowledge and that faith - it definitely helps in running because then you know that, you know, running is just a sport. It's just something for fun, but, you know, there are things that are so much more important. I think having that grounding is so necessary when you have, like, a bad workout or a bad race. Or for Clayton, he had surgery just over a year ago. And I think, you know, when trials and tribulations come upon us, we're able to really lean on our faith in Jesus Christ and lean on his atoning power and his grace.
SUMMERS: We've been speaking with Conner Mantz and Clayton Young. Both men will represent the United States at the Paris games. Thanks to both of you, and good luck in Paris.
MANTZ: Thanks for having us, Juana.
YOUNG: Thanks for having us.
(SOUNDBITE OF RHIANNON GIDDENS' "MOUNTAIN BANJO") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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