Matt Richtman won the 40th annual Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday, becoming the first American man to claim the title in 31 years. He set a personal-best time of 2 hours, 7 minutes, 56 seconds on the course that began at Dodger Stadium and ran through downtown LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Brentwood before concluding in the Century City neighborhood. Athanas Kioko of Kenya finished second in 2:10.55. Moses Kurgat of Kenya took third place in 2:13.13.
This was only Richtman’s second marathon, following his debut last fall at the Twin Cities Marathon, where he finished fourth with a time of 2:10.47. “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, from Elburn, Illinois, 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 won the title in 2:30.16. Antonina Kwambai of Kenya finished second in 2:30.19. Savannah Berry of Orem, Utah, finished third in 2:30.31. Berry finished 12th at last year’s U.S. Olympic trials.
