Matt Richtman won the 40th annual Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday, becoming the first American to come in first place in the event in 31 years.
The long-distance runner, an Illinois native, had a personal-best time of 2 hours, 7 minutes, 56 seconds, per CNN. The Los Angeles Marathon started at Dodger Stadium and continued through downtown LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Brentwood before ending in the Century City neighborhood, the outlet noted.
“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.”
Athanas Kioko from Kenya came in second with a time of 2 hours, 10 minutes, 55 seconds. Moses Kurgat, also from Kenya, rounded out the top three with a time of 2 hours, 13 minutes, 13 seconds.
“It’s definitely a surprise,” Richtman said, per ABC7. “You know, I came in feeling really good; it’s really hard to judge where you stack up against competition, but it was a really good group out there today, and I was really happy to run with those guys and then ultimately win it.”
“It’s such a great day, you know, the 40th anniversary (of the race), there’s so many legacy runners out here, and the crowd out here was amazing,” he continued. “There were people throughout the whole course and it really helps. It’s amazing how much a crowd can change the course of what you’re doing.”
Richtman, 25, finished fourth at the Twin Cities Marathon last fall with a time of 2:10:47. He was a cross-country runner while attending Montana State University, earning All-America honors as a junior in 2022-23.
The last time an American won the L.A. Marathon was when Paul Pilkington came in first place in 1994 with a time of 2 hours, 12 minutes, 13 seconds.
