Conner Mantz’s Mile-by-Mile Guide to the TCS New York City

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Conner Mantz Returns to New York After A Record-Breaking Year!

This episode of Set the Pace Presented by Peloton is brought to you by Shokz and was recorded live from the TCS New York City Marathon Expo Presented by New Balance. Becs sits down with professional runner Conner Mantz, who finished as the top American in 2024 at his TCS New York City Marathon debut, clocking 2:09:00. Mantz won two NCAA cross country titles while he was a student-athlete at Brigham Young University. He went on to set two American records in 2025—one at the Houston Half Marathon (59:17) and the other at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon (2:04:43), breaking a marathon record that had stood for 23 years. Since then, stress fractures sidelined him from running the Boston Marathon. This Sunday, Mantz returns to New York for his first marathon since his record-breaking performance in Chicago, and he walks through the course for you, mile by mile.

0:00 “Holy smokes”: Conner on the Fifth Avenue climb
0:18 Live from the TCS New York City Marathon Expo
1:42 Why marathon nerves are a good thing
4:14 The start: the cannon, Sinatra and the quiet Verrazzano
8:07 Conner Mantz’s career by the numbers
10:15 The comeback: Conner’s long road back
12:21 Training in Utah vs. running in New York
14:08 Why he announced the Chicago record attempt
16:48 Inside the American record run in Chicago
19:41 Why training in a group matters
21:54 Two stress fractures and months without running
24:38 Becoming a dad
27:20 Falmouth: his first race in 10 months
30:27 Copenhagen and Coach Ed Eyestone’s advice
33:52 Racing Zouhair Talbi and the Olympic standard
36:09 What makes the New York course so tough
39:00 How Conner breaks the course into sections
40:14 The Verrazzano, Brooklyn and Halloween crowds
42:21 Halfway at the Pulaski Bridge: the gut check
44:18 The back half: one section at a time
45:42 The Fifth Avenue climb nobody warned him about
46:55 First Avenue, Fifth Avenue and “Eye of the Tiger”
48:59 When it gets hard: counting steps and running math
50:18 Eye contact with Clayton Young on the motorbike
52:14 The finish: Central Park South and the final turn
54:13 Racing without headphones
55:42 Thanks for listening

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