NO MANTZ, NO CLEAR FAVORITE: RANKING THE AMERICAN MEN AT BOSTON

Conner Mantz is out. The American record holder withdrew this morning, citing fitness concerns. The one story everyone was telling about the Boston Marathon 2026 American men is gone.

Mantz was supposed to be the guy. He finished fourth last year, four seconds off the podium in 2:05:08, the highest finish by an American man at Boston since Galen Rupp placed second in 2017. Then he went to Chicago Marathon and ran 2:04:43, breaking the American record. He came back to Boston as the biggest American men's story in the field. Now he is not coming back at all.

So what happens to the American men's race?

It does not disappear. It gets more interesting. Instead of one clear favorite chasing a podium that has eluded American men since Rupp's runner-up finish nine years ago, Boston becomes a live sorting test. Who steps into the gap? Who has the fitness, the course knowledge, the nerve to be the top American in one of the deepest fields this race has seen?

Here is how the remaining Americans stack up.

Best Bet to Be Top American: Clayton Young

Clayton Young ran 2:07:04 at Boston Marathon last year for seventh place. That made him the seventh-fastest American marathoner ever, even though Boston's point-to-point course does not count for record purposes. More important than the time is what the race actually looked like. Young ran with the front pack deep into the course. He knows the hills. He has been here before and survived them at speed.

Young and Mantz have trained together for years, came through BYU together, and raced side by side at the Paris Olympics, where Mantz finished eighth and Young ninth. They were supposed to do this together again. Now Young runs it alone as the top American on the start list.

He is not winning this race. The field is too deep, and his personal best sits about two minutes behind Benson Kipruto's 2:02:16. But best American is a realistic target, and given that no American man has finished on this podium since Rupp in 2017, even top American at Boston carries real weight.

Fastest on Paper: Biya Simbassa

Biya Simbassa holds a 2:06:53 personal best, which makes him the fastest American still in the field by the numbers. That time puts him among the top five American marathoners all time.

The catch is that Simbassa is unproven at Boston. There is no course history to lean on, no data from Newton Hills on tired legs. What you have is a runner with legitimate speed who has not yet shown what he can do on the hardest major marathon course in the world.

If he comes in sharp, he is dangerous. If the hills expose him the way they expose a lot of flat-course specialists, Young is probably running past him somewhere around mile 20. That tension is exactly what makes him worth watching.

The Most Overlooked Threat: Zouhair Talbi

Zouhair Talbi is the name most casual fans will overlook, and that is exactly why he belongs near the top of this conversation.

Talbi, who was born in Morocco and became a U.S. citizen in January 2025 after enlisting in the U.S. Army Reserve, won the Houston Marathon this January in 2:05:45. He placed fifth at Boston in 2023, racing under the Moroccan flag at the time. He knows what this race feels like from the inside of a fast field. His time is legitimate, his Boston experience is real, and he is running some of the best marathon times of his career right now.

The reason he does not lead this list is name recognition, not performance. If you are building a starting lineup based purely on who is most prepared to run well at Boston specifically, Talbi belongs above several bigger names.

The Breakout Candidate: Alex Maier

Alex Maier is the one to watch if you want to see the future of American men's marathoning before everyone else does.

He debuted at Chicago Marathon in 2024, then won the Dusseldorf Marathon in 2:08:33 in his second outing at the distance. He followed that with a 59:23 half marathon at Houston, just six seconds off Mantz's American half marathon record. He is making his Boston debut here, which means no course experience. In a field this deep, that matters.

But Maier is the runner who, a year or two from now, could be the name everyone else is chasing. If he runs smart, survives the hills, and puts together a strong second half, this could be the race people point to as the beginning.

The Wild Card: CJ Albertson

CJ Albertson finished seventh at Boston Marathon in 2024. He has been here, knows this course, and knows exactly what the second half feels like when the legs start to turn. That course-specific experience puts him ahead of several runners on this list who are showing up at Boston for the first time.

The style angle is what makes him genuinely interesting in a year without Mantz. Albertson is one of the most aggressive front-runners in American distance running. He goes out hard, pushes the downhills, and makes races uncomfortable early. In a field that just lost its most obvious American pacesetter, Albertson is exactly the type of runner who could put himself at the front of the U.S. pack from the gun and dare everyone else to come with him.

Whether that aggression holds up over the Newton Hills is the question. It always is with him. But that tension is the whole point. Albertson races like he has nothing to lose, and on a course this hard, that attitude can take you places.

The Veteran Storyline: Galen Rupp

Galen Rupp ran 2:09:41 at Chicago Marathon last October, finishing sixteenth. He is 39 years old. He has been dealing with back problems and hip surgery for the better part of three years. The version of Rupp who finished second at Boston in 2017 and won Chicago that same year is not the version showing up in Hopkinton on Monday.

What is showing up is one of the most accomplished American distance runners of his era, still lining up and still competing. Two Olympic medals. A Chicago title, the first American man to win that race in 15 years. Few Americans in this field bring a resume like his, even if he is no longer the top U.S. threat on race day.

Honorable Mention: Ryan Ford

Ryan Ford finished tenth at Boston last year in 2:08:00. No major sponsor. No hype. He just ran and put up a top ten at the Boston Marathon. He is back in 2026 and he deserves to be here.

The Bottom Line

Mantz's withdrawal does not kill the American men's story at Boston. It changes it. Instead of one clear hope chasing the podium, this race becomes a live sorting test for the next wave of U.S. men's marathoners.

Young is the favorite to be top American. Simbassa has the raw speed to beat him. Talbi has the course history and current form to make things uncomfortable for everyone. Albertson has the Boston experience and the aggression to put himself at the front of the American pack from mile one. Maier is the future taking his first real swing on this stage.

Nobody is breaking the American men's podium drought this year without Mantz. But somebody is going to step forward on Patriots' Day and stake a claim as the next name behind Mantz. That race within the race among Boston Marathon 2026 American men is worth watching.