Conner Mantz & Clayton Young On The CITIUS MAG Podcast: Boston Marathon Recap + Race Insights

Conner Mantz made his tenth appearance on the CITIUS MAG Podcast after a career-defining race at the Boston Marathon, where he clocked 2:05:08 — a personal best and the second-fastest marathon ever by an American. Fearlessly taking on the Newton Hills and finishing fourth overall in one of Boston's fastest editions, Mantz solidified his place among the world’s best. Just months after setting the American half marathon record and running 59:15 in New York, Mantz reflects on his Boston performance, his mindset during the race, and what’s next — including chasing Khalid Khannouchi’s American marathon record and pushing the next frontier of American distance running.

Clayton Young also returned to the podcast fresh off his breakthrough 2:07:04 performance at the Boston Marathon — a nearly one-minute personal best that earned him seventh place and tied his best finish at a World Marathon Major. Despite battling a calf cramp at mile 20 and an imperfect marathon build, Young once again proved his consistency and toughness, continuing his streak of finishing as the second American behind training partner Conner Mantz in every marathon they’ve raced together. In the episode, Young breaks down his Boston race strategy, the mental battle during tough moments, and what makes him thrive in high-stakes races.

Here are some of the top insights, reflections, and takeaways from the training duo’s return to the CITIUS MAG Podcast. You can listen to Conner Mantz’s episode here and Clayton Young’s episode here.

Highlights From Conner Mantz’s Boston Marathon Recap

Defining the first part of his race plan with Coach Ed Eyestone — coast:

“I felt like I coasted, but apparently not because I got out so fast. But it was defined as a moment to just get moving. Don't do anything, don't go out hard, don't do everything over the top. You have those hills [ahead], so just feel it out. The first five or six miles is net downhill considerably, so it was like, ‘Don't overdo it.’ 

When we started out, that first mile or so felt very easy. Looking at my heart rate data afterward, I think I averaged somewhere in the 120s for that first mile with a max heart rate for that first mile of 140. It was just because you're bombing it downhill and also when you start out, your heart rate is at 60 or 70.

We just talked about coasting. I think I was a little more aggressive than I probably should have been, but it felt very easy and very relaxed. I knew that first mile was too quick, but unlike two years ago when we ran a little bit faster through 5K, this felt like more of an even effort through that first 5K.”

How chasing a fast time motivated him during the race:

“I stopped saying, ‘What if I run five minute pace?’ It was now, ‘What if I run three minute kilometers? I felt good. I felt like we were in a rhythm… I was like, ‘I might hit Ryan Hall's time.’ It was like, ‘If I get beat by these guys and run in the 2:04s, I can still be happy.’ So in a way, it kind of took the pressure off in being so worried about, ‘How good are these guys? What are they going to have left?’ Instead, it made it, ‘Just get to 1000 left and then make your last move.’ 

These are the mental gymnastics you play. Now it was, ‘Let's try and run fast and be focused on a fast time.’ That way you're not frustrated if one of these guys  puts in a really fast surge. That could still motivate me even if I was to get beat: that I could run a really quick time and try to beat Ryan’s American all conditions best.”

Thoughts on the atmosphere and crowds: 

“It was loud, it was exciting, people were excited, and you could feel that. They were excited for you and I was excited because I felt good. It wasn't like, ‘Am I going to make it to the finish line in one piece?’ I stopped thinking, ‘What if I die at five minute pace?’ It became, ‘No, I'm attacking this marathon.’ It was more of an assertive mentality. 

Hearing the crowds roar, I was fighting for the podium. I feel like the podium has always been on my mind. It was in my mind in New York—I was somewhat close time-wise, but I really wasn't that close. It was like, ‘This is it. I am doing what I set out to do and I feel great.’ It was a very special moment. I was pretty zoned in, but I enjoyed it and I would love to live through it again.”

Not overthinking the fast pace throughout the race: 

“I was reading a sports psychology book — just reviewing some things from it, just random chapters I turned to on the flight there. One of them said there was a theory that the more you think, the slower you react in sports. But in the chapter, it said that's not true. It's actually the more you worry. You’re always thinking, but it's the more you worry about whatever, the slower you react. 

I was talking it over with Clayton and was like, ‘Clayton, you do a really good job at this. You're never worried. If somebody makes a move, you don't match it. You just slowly catch up. You don't react to anything quickly. That's something you do really well.’

So in my mind, it was like, ‘I’m not going to worry about, ‘What if this happens? What if I blow up?’ I was just going to come to race, see how I felt, and follow what coach's plan was. I'm not going to be worried about the, ‘What ifs’ or anything. When we came through some of the splits, I guess I was a little worried because it was getting hard. I knew we were going faster than I would’ve liked. Even through 20K we were fast, but I wasn't doing the math because I know that first half can be so fast and that second half can be so devastating.”

Thoughts when Cyprian and Kotut passed him in the final miles: 

“I was visualizing my training and how many times I pushed up hills. On easy runs, I put a little bit extra on some of my uphills. I was like, ‘This is it. This is the moment I break away.’ But I could see in my peripheral vision these two guys right there. I was like, ‘What is going on? Why aren't one of these guys dropping? I’m moving hard!’ We took the left turn, and right before the left turn, that little thought of discouragement got to me and I slowed down a little bit on the turn. 

At this point, my legs were pretty trashed. That little bit of discouragement and trashed legs slowed me down a bit on that turn. They both swung wide and passed me. I caught back up and we were running three abreast that whole last stretch until 26 miles when they started to pull away. Once we hit 26 miles, as we were going down that stretch, I was like, ‘I'll move with 400 to go. That's when I'll go.’ 

I felt like I made my move and they weren't dropping. Then they made their moves to out-sprint each other. It just felt like I was running through sand. It was like slow motion. I was doing everything I could and I wasn't speeding up at all. It just felt like my pace was about the same. Then with about 100 meters left, they weren’t coming back. I coasted a little bit, but it was a tough moment—tough moment to see second and third place disappear so quickly.”

Being overall satisfied with his performance: 

“It was bittersweet because my ‘A’ goal was getting on the podium. The ultimate goal was to win, but I felt like I could at least get on the podium. There was the what if about going with John’s [move], but it wasn't like I let up at any moment. I was really pushing. Those three guys that beat me were just really dang good on the day and I couldn't do anything else. I’ve gone through it and I feel like in some races I could have dug just a little bit more. This time, it was like I couldn’t have dug a little more. Maybe if I dug a little bit more in the last 400, I could have run 2:05:07. Maybe I could have dropped a second in the last 400, but it was not significant enough to change my position. 

The bitterness is kind of gone. Those guys were really good and I was competing up front. That was a cool moment. 22 seconds off the win and four seconds off second place — that's a cool thing to look back on. I was 80 seconds off of winning New York and 71 seconds off of a bronze medal at the Olympics. It’s not about time per se, but I can make a 22 second jump feel reasonable. That makes it a really sweet moment…

I felt like I executed the plan very well. I felt like I did everything that was needed in training to get to this point. I felt that I showed my training well with how I raced. It was kind of like, ‘There’s nothing more I could have done…’ Every race I run after this, I wanted to be up there and fighting for a win, and if not a win, a podium finish. This one was very satisfying. I know I've already said that word a couple times, but I hit it. I hit everything I needed to do and I had a good performance. I feel like in New York, I was so far off my fitness. Then in the Olympics I was close, but I felt like I executed a little poorly. In a lot of other races, I thought I was ready to make a jump—and I was—and now I finally hit that point where it's like, ‘I made that jump.’”

Highlights From Clayton Young’s Boston Marathon Recap

Explaining how he was “fighting demons” in the second half according to his Strava post:

“I almost wish that I had elaborated a little bit more on Strava. It was just a quick two minute recap while I was lying on the massage table post-race. I’ve struggled the last couple of days to process this race and to know how to recap this the right way. There’s been a lot of highs and lows. The demon section mid-race, or a little bit thereafter... I talked about it briefly in some of the post-race interviews, but that pack was pretty big and there were a lot of good people in that pack.

We were going fast. We were clipping along pretty well and it can be really daunting to be in the middle of that pack and think, ‘Man, there's 15 or 20 guys here. How in the world am I going to pull this off? How am I going to continue to cover moves? How am I going to continue to be ready for the Newton Hills?’ There’s just a lot of doubt that can come, especially in the middle of that race when the pack is so big, and especially when arguably the hardest part of the race is still coming. 

So those were the kind of demons that I was fighting. I was like, ‘How can I stay present? How can I stay relaxed?’ It was about how could I not worry about the future moves, but be ready for the moves that were happening here and now, and kind of conserve energy so that I was ready to cover those moves. I think that's really where it got worrisome.

But one of the nice things is that every bottle that I grabbed Ashley had written a note. We were pretty intentional about some of the things that I wrote on my bottles. So those were one of the things that we did to kind of stay present.”

Which bottle message was the most important:

“Before the Atlanta Half, where I didn’t race really well, I was thinking of a specific mental cue for that race. I like to be specific and I like to be unique. I don’t like to use the same ones all the time. [Instead], something that resonates for that race.

One of them that I chose for the Atlanta Half was a hymn that we actually sing in church. ‘How Firm a Foundation’ is the title of the hymn. The verse that I like says, ‘Fear not, I am with thee.’ I try not to be too religious with what I share with the running world, but I believe in that. So when [I’m] in the middle of a race and it gets really tough, what we’d written on my bottle was, ‘Fear not, I’m with thee.’ Once you start the phrase, you’re going to finish it. So those middle miles, I was just thinking of that song over and over again.

When I used that in the Atlanta Half, I got to the end and was like ‘Where were you, God?’ I don’t want to mock and say He wasn’t there, but it was kind of a little trial of faith. To then use that once again in Boston and to have this moment in the middle of the race when I’m fighting demons and I get this bottle that says, ‘Fear not, I am with thee,’ it really got me through the middle section of Boston.”

Matching John Korir’s move at mile 20:

“The move was made. I saw the move and I was covering the move. I started counting to 100 seconds, since I said I’d cover any move for 100 seconds. I got halfway through 100, more or less, and my right calf just went, ‘bang.’ No signs of it whatsoever before then, but it just cramped super fast. Already in the middle of counting, I was like, ‘Am I going to be able to cover this or not?’ So I was already second guessing.

We were at the start of Heartbreak [Hill] or halfway up it when this was happening and it’s already really tough. It’s like the calf made this decision for me. Immediately when it happened, I first flashed to Des Linden’s book. In her book, she talks about her calf cramp on the final stretch. She crosses the line, but she loses the race and takes second. It went from, ‘Am I covering this move?’ to, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to finish this race.’ I immediately pumped the brakes.”

Battling to the line with Rory Linkletter:

“Rory didn’t hesitate one bit. He caught us, went to the front, and started pushing the pace. I quickly got around Tebello [Ramakongoana] and got onto Rory. As we went through the underpass, out of the underpass, and we go to take the right on Hereford, he slaps his right leg. I thought he was saying right on Hereford, but apparently he was cramping a little bit.

As we went to go take the left on Boylston, I kind of poked out and was side-by-side with him. I took the inside. There’s a good picture that you can find online of Rory turning to me when he says, ‘Okay, let’s tango.’ From there, I took the lead, he took the lead, I took the lead, he took the lead. I tucked in, since there was a strong headwind, and I was like, ‘This hurts!’

Then he made one final move. That’s all I had. We crossed the line and I think both of us, with probably a couple hundred meters to go, both saw the clock and saw 2:06:40, 2:06:50, and were like, ‘Man, maybe we can break 2:07,’ but I think we were in too much of a chess match to close it out.”

The gap between him and Conner Mantz: 

“That’s definitely been the other thing I’ve been wrestling with over these last couple days. Good day in Boston. Seventh place is a great, consistent day, but I can’t help but wonder that Conner finished two minutes ahead of me. That’s the biggest gap we’ve had in our last five or six marathons.

In a way, I know exactly what he’s done in training better than anybody else. I know that I can do that, so it both makes it approachable and like I’ve got my work cut out for me. I’m very aware of that, almost to a fault. It’s this comparison that I wrestle with all the time. 

Don’t get me wrong, that eats me up inside and I’m evaluating that and both what I did before and during the race to try and close that gap. Based off what people have seen in the docuseries and on Strava, people could tell there was a little bit bigger of a gap than usual, and that coupled with it finally all clicking for Conner. 

I’m happy, but I’m hungry and I’m excited. I want to race again and I want to replay that race again. But man, why do we have to wait six months? I get a lot of good compliments from people in the sport. Like Meb came up to me and was like, ‘It’s coming, just keep it going, you’ve got time.’ I don’t know if I’ve got time. I’m young, yes, but I’m not that young. I want to figure it out now.”

Find Conner’s episode here and Clayton’s episode here. Stay tuned for more Boston Marathon recaps from some of the top stars on the CITIUS MAG Podcast.

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