In this episode of "Running: State of the Sport," George and Amby chat with Conner Mantz, a favorite in the Feb. 3 Olympic Marathon Trials, based on his recent 2:07:47 at the Chicago Marathon. Mantz also won two NCAA Cross Country Championships in his days as an undergrad at Brigham Young University.

He’s part of a strong BYU marathon contingent that includes Clayton Young, 2:08:00 at Chicago, and 2016 Olympic marathon runner Jared Ward. All are coached by two-time U.S. Olympic marathoner Ed Eyestone.

Before talking to Mantz, George and Amby discussed the biggest recent news in running. This included the fast results in the Valencia Marathon, where Ethiopian Sisay Lemma set a course record of 2:01:48, and his countrywoman Worknesh Degefa ran a personal best, 2:15:51. In the same race, Kenenisa Bekele, 41, set a world record for a masters marathon runner with his 2:04:19.

In Oregon, Addy Ritzenhein, just a sophomore and daughter of former U.S. super-elite runner Dathan Ritzenhein, won the Nike Nationals XC meet. In England, Lauren Fleshman’s book Good For A Girl was named winner of the prestigious William Hill Sports Book of the Year. It was the first win for a running book, and the first win for a female author writing about female sports.

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"Running: State of the Sport" is brought to you by MarathonHandbook.com and RunLongRunHealthy.com. Marathon Handbook is the world’s leading marathon website, with a special focus on trustworthy running information and free, runner-tested training plans for all ability levels.

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Audio engineering by BJ McGeever.