Conner Mantz, feeling chased the whole way, wins the Twin Cities 10-mile men’s title

Two months after his eighth-place finish in the marathon at the Paris Olympics, Conner Mantz heard footsteps behind him on the way to winning the Twin Cities 10-mile men’s title on Sunday morning in St. Paul.

How far?

“The whole way,” Mantz said.

They belonged to Eritrean Olympic steeplechaser Yemane Haileselaisse, who ran with Mantz until Mantz won by nine seconds after he ran a time of 45 minutes, 13 seconds.

“Yemane is an animal,” Mantz said. “I wasn’t sure who was behind me. I looked back and didn’t recognize him. I looked over again and of course, it was him. I knew there were two of us, but my peripheral vision must be failing because it didn’t look like him.”

Mantz didn’t pull away until about 600 yards down Cathedral Hill to the finish line in front of the State Capitol.

“I looked back and I finally had separated from him,” Mantz said. “I kicked it in and tried to get a fast time and make sure he didn’t catch me.”

Mantz’s presence Sunday had a Minnesota connection. His coach, Ed Eyestone, is a former Olympian who won the 1993 Twin Cities Marathon and suggested Mantz run the 10-mile as the best preparation between the Paris Olympics and next month’s New York City Marathon.

Olympic teammate Clayton Young also ran the 10-mile after his ninth place Paris finish and was third to Mantz and Haileselaisse.

When they said during a television interview Sunday that 10-mile women’s runner Natosha Rogers was back, they didn’t mean back in Minnesota for a third time.

“I’m back to my normal self,” she said. “I’ve had a pretty rough year the first half of the year.”

Rogers injured herself at the Olympic marathon trials in February and said “my body just fell apart.” She couldn’t train for more than two months after that.

“It just takes a long time to get that momentum back,” Rogers said. “Finally it’s come back around and it showed today.”

Raised in Colorado, the former Texas A&M runner now lives in New Braunfels, Texas, and on Sunday she won the women’s 10-mile division by 23 seconds with a time of 52:29.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter ran his second TC Marathon and finished in 3:44, about 10 minutes better than his previous personal record, he said. He also has ran Grandma’s Marathon.

“My goal was 3:45 so I made it by the skin of my teeth,” he said. “I wasn’t about to do the training I wanted to do — there’s a couple things going on right now — so that’s why I was a little worried about it. This is such an amazing race and beautiful course. The energy is high and it’s so much fun.”

Race officials reported 185 participants were treated by the marathon medical team for situations ranging from minor to more serious. Four participants were transferred to a hospital.

• Men’s wheelchair winner Fidel Aguilar blessed himself with the sign of the cross as he crossed the finish line in 1:49:56. He lives in Mesa, Ariz., by way of Mexico. His wife, Veronica Gonzales, won the women’s crown in 2:50:36.

• Dawson, Minn., native Carrie Tollefson, who ran in the 1,500 meters in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, did television commentary on site at the finish line.

• Dakotah Lindwurm of St. Francis — who ran the Olympic marathon in August — handed out awards to up-and-coming competitive runners invited from eight Midwest states. She also did some work in the TV booth.