Hillary Bor holds the American record holder in the 20K, which he set at last year’s Faxon Law New Haven Road Race.

Conner Mantz is the American record holder in the half marathon.

Both are Olympians (Bor in the steeplechase, Mantz in the marathon) and they will meet Monday at the New Haven 20K, the USATF 20K championship (8:30 a.m. start, New Haven Green). There is also a half-marathon, a 5K, a relay and a kids race.

Throw another Olympian, Galen Rupp, into the mix and there’s a reason why Bor is looking forward to defending his title.

“Theres’ a lot of top guys,” said Bor, 35, who lives in Colorado Springs. “It’s going to be really exciting. I’m excited to be part of the mix.”

Mantz won New Haven in 2022; Rupp won the race in 2017.

Sara Hall is headlining the women’s field, and Alison Frisbee, who was the second American woman at the Boston Marathon this year, will also run, as will Emily Venters, who has run a 1:08 half marathon.

Bor, a two-time Olympian who finished seventh in the steeplechase at the Rio Games in 2016, has been transitioning from the track to the road over the last few years and will run his first marathon, in New York City, in November.

It will be a different feel for him to come into New Haven on legs that have gone through marathon training.

“I feel like I’m way stronger than last year because I’ve been training for a marathon,” Bor said. “I feel like I’m in way better shape than last year.”

Mantz, who ran the second fastest American time (2:05:08) at the Boston Marathon this spring and finished fourth, is training to break the American marathon record (2:05:38, Khalid Khannouchi, 2002) at Chicago in October. Mantz did not break the record at Boston because the Boston course is ineligible for records due to the net downhill aspect of the point to point course.

Clayton Young (11) edges out defending champion Conner Mantz (1) in a photo finish in the 20K race at the 46th Annual Faxon Law New Haven Road Race, New Haven, Conn., September 4, 2023. Young finished the national championship race in 59:15 while Mantz finished in 59:16. Both are from Provo, Utah. Photo by Cloe Poisson/Special to the Courant

Bor and Mantz raced this spring at the New York United Airlines Half Marathon, with Mantz finishing second (59:17) and Bor third (59:50).

“Since then, I’ve done more training than I’ve done before,” Bor said. “I think I’m ready to compete with anyone. When you compete with Conner Mantz, you better be ready.”

Mantz, of Mapleton, Utah, is no stranger to road racing in Connecticut, winning New Haven in 2022, in 59:08, and finishing second (59:16) to his training partner Clayton Young in a photo finish in 2023. Mantz, who finished eighth at the Paris Olympic marathon last year in 2:08:12, lso holds the Manchester Road Race course record (21:04, 2022). He said last week that his training is going well.

Olympians Galen Rupp (left) and Leonard Korir (right) cross the line in a photo finish at the 2017 Faxon Law New Haven Road Race 20K, the national championship. Rupp was the winner.

Rupp, a four-time Olympian who won the silver in the 10,000 meters in 2012 at the London Games and the bronze in the Olympic marathon in 2016, raced for the first time in a while in late July at a six-mile race in California after being sidelined by injuries. Rupp, who is 38, finished fifth in 27:59.

On the women’s side, Hall, 42, returns after winning New Haven in 2018 and 2019.

https://www.courant.com/2025/08/29/olympians-to-contend-for-mens-title-at-new-haven-road-race/