Former MSU runner Matt Richtman makes statement with LA Marathon win

LOS ANGELES, CA — Former Montana State University distance runner Matt Richtman turned heads in the running world Sunday by winning the 40th annual Los Angeles Marathon.

"Definitely a super important race with this being the 40th year and is especially a little bit higher stakes," Richtman said. "There was a great field out there, so it was really interesting coming in, seeing the competition and having that opportunity to go out and race."

Richtman crossed the finish line to become the first U.S. male to win the LA Marathon since Paul Pilkington in 1994. However, what made his race more astonishing was the performance for someone new to competing in marathons.

Although Richtman ran cross-country and long-distance track and field events for Montana State, this marked his second career marathon as a professional. He first competed in the Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota this past October, leaving with a time of 2:10:45 and a fourth place finish.

"When I finished up with school last May, I still had some fitness from college left over, and the Missoula Marathon was happening right after that," Richtman said on what got him into running marathons. "It was good timing, and I signed up for that with a couple of my old teammates and friends, so I raced that and really enjoyed it."

"It's been a long time coming, for sure. It's really years of training that's been stacked and learning from mistakes in the past, good races, bad races and everything, but definitely has been a quick jump up," he added on his early success. "Coming into Twin Cities last October, just really not knowing what to expect from the marathon being that first one, I learned a ton from that race and was able to apply that, and I think it showed."

The Elburn, Illinois, native put those lessons from his first marathon into a historic performance in Los Angeles. Richtman won with a time of 2:07:56, which is tied for the seventh fastest time by an American in any marathon in U.S. history.

He won by nearly 3 minutes, as Kenya's Athanas Kioko took second with a time of 2:10:55.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet," Richtman said. "It's still coming to that realization of everything that happened yesterday and so much excitement for both me, and having Savannah (Berry) on the women's side too, there was a lot to take from that race. Two Americans on the podium in LA (is) something really special."

But for Richtman, it wasn't just about getting his name out there in the marathon community, it was also making a statement for U.S. distance runners.

"I think there's a lot you can draw for me, but I think it speaks to American distance running in general," Richtman said. "You look at every distance, both men and women, there's so many great performances being run right now, and that's just a testament of how strong the Americans are right now."

"There are so many new NCAA runners graduating, coming to the roads, staying on the track, and for me, it's just a nice stepping stone just to be someone that is moving that forward, and I think running a fast time is great, because it propels everyone alongside me as well," he said.

The 2024 graduate and two-time All-American for cross-country also became the latest Bobcat to put Montana State on the national stage. Richtman competed in three NCAA Cross-Country Championships while in Bozeman, placing 26th in the 10K in 2023 for the fourth highest finish in MSU history.

He also took silver and bronze in the 10,000 and 5,000 meters in the 2024 Big Sky Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Bozeman.

"I think it must have been about 4 miles into the race, there was someone that actually did say something about Montana State as he said, 'Go Montana State!'" Richtman said. "It's definitely getting around, and it's super important to me having that training group in the Bozeman area and really Montana in general. Just having a world-class facility to train at, it's been super instrumental to my career so far."

The next step for Richtman coming off the Los Angeles Marathon is unknown at the moment, as he recovers from the race, but he's looking to build on that success with future races.

"Right now, I'll definitely take some time off and let the body recover a little bit," Richtman said. "I haven't planned out any races in the future yet, but those are definitely in the works, so we'll figure that out and see what's in store."