Illinois runner Matt Richtman is 1st American man to win Los Angeles Marathon in 31 years​on March 17, 2025 at 8:57 am

LOS ANGELES (WLS) — Chicago-area native Matt Richtman won the 40th annual Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday, becoming the first American man to take the title in 31 years.

He set a personal-best time of 2 hours, 7 minutes, 56 seconds over the course that began at Dodger Stadium and went through downtown LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Brentwood before ending in the Century City neighborhood.

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It’s a feeling not many runners get, crossing the finish line first in a big city marathon. It was only Richtman’s second attempt at the 26.2 mile marathon distance, following his debut last fall at the Twin Cities Marathon with a time of 2:10.47 to finish fourth.

“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.”

The Elburn native pulled away from the field about halfway through this morning’s Los Angeles marathon, and he won easily.

“Really nice to see all the training and all the miles and everything behind the scenes all pay off today,” Richtman said.

Richtman is the first American to win the LA Marathon in more than tree decades, and his performance is capturing the attention of the entire running community, including back home in the Chicago area.

Richtman said when he was younger, he would go to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon as a spectator. Soon, he may be invited as a professional runner. Race director Carey Pinkowski said he’s already heard from Richtman’s agent.

“I’m real happy for him,” Pinkowski said. “We’d love to see him in Chicago. That would be great. He’s a hometown kid.”

The runner remains involved in his hometown. Richtman was a seven-time All State runner at Kaneland High School in Elburn. He won the state 2A cross country title as a senior in 2017, and he helped out as a volunteer coach at the school this fall.

“He was a great man of great character, and the boys all respect him a lot,” Kaneland cross country coach Chad Clarey said. “I know they’ll be excited when we get together tomorrow to talk about it.”

The runner was a member of the Montana State cross-country team, earning All-America honors as a junior in 2022-23.

Richtman’s parents were also in LA to cheer him on in the race.

“Everyone’s so proud of this, and we’re just excited for him,” his mother Karen Richtman said. “And we’re proud. Did I say that already?”

For Richtman and his family, it’s been a journey much longer than the 26.2 mile race Sunday, but he said it’s well worth it.

“It’s been such an amazing day from the time I got up ’til now,” Matt Richtman said.

Sunday’s marathon puts Richtman is the elite class of American runners who will not only be looking to run the Chicago Marathon this fall, but also the 2028 Olympics, which will be run back where he won, in Los Angeles.

Athanas Kioko of Kenya was second at Sunday’s Los Angeles Marathon in 2:10.55. Moses Kurgat of Kenya took third in 2:13.13.

American Paul Pilkington won the 1994 edition in 2:12.13.

In the women’s race, Tejinesh Tulu of Ethiopia took the title in 2:30.16.

Antonina Kwambai of Kenya was second in 2:30.19. Savannah Berry of Orem, Utah, was third in 2:30.31. Berry finished 12th at last year’s U.S. Olympic trials.

The Associated Press and ABC7 Los Angeles contributed to this report.