Elburn native Matt Richtman is 1st American man to win Los Angeles Marathon in 31 years
LOS ANGELES — Matt Richtman won the 40th annual Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday, becoming the first American man to take the title in 31 years.
The Elburn native and Kaneland High School grad set a personal-best time of 2 hours, 7 minutes, 56 seconds over the course that began at Dodger Stadium and went through downtown LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Brentwood before ending in the Century City neighborhood.
Athanas Kioko of Kenya was second in 2:10.55. Moses Kurgat of Kenya took third in 2:13.13.
It was just Richtman's second marathon, following his debut last fall at the Twin Cities Marathon with a time of 2:10.47 to finish fourth.
“I didn't really have a super big plan coming into this. It's always so tough, the marathon, just because so much can happen,” Richtman said. “I just told myself to stay in that pack until about the halfway mark and then if I felt good I could make a move. Ended up going a little bit to the lead and no one really came with me.”
Richtman was a member of the Montana State cross-country team, earning All-America honors as a junior in 2022-23.
American Paul Pilkington won the 1994 edition in 2:12.13.
In the women’s race, Tejinesh Tulu of Ethiopia took the title in 2:30.16.
Antonina Kwambai of Kenya was second in 2:30.19. Savannah Berry of Orem, Utah, was third in 2:30.31. Berry finished 12th at last year's U.S. Olympic trials.
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