For 20 Miles in Chicago, Vinny Mauri Made American Marathoning Delightful Again

Vinny Mauri, the 25-year-old from Warren, Ohio, who did 70 percent of his fall training on Planet Fitness treadmills, finished the Chicago Marathon in 10th place in 2:06:45. He was the third American, behind Clayton Young in seventh (2:05:23) and Charles Hicks, another 25-year-old (2:05:35).It wasn’t the final result Mauri was expecting. For his second marathon, he had predicted big things.On his Strava, which documented his intense training and became required reading for American running fans, he wrote October 10, the day before the race, “This level of fitness should be outlawed. Legs are breaking out of their prison tomorrow like it’s Shawshank all over again.”And for the first 18 miles he was on American record pace, running confidently alone in seventh, wearing his baseball cap on backwards.Could this happen? Could the guy who moved home with his parents after an uneven college running career, took a job at a local running store, and went all in on his training actually set the American record?When the television cameras found Mauri a few miles later, the cap was gone and the strain was showing on his face. Young and Hicks were lurking in the background as Mauri stopped at least three times to stretch his cramping hamstrings. The marathon was exacting its painful toll.When Young and Hicks came up alongside him, Mauri valiantly tried to stick with them. They were together through the 22-mile mark and then the wheels came off for Mauri. The television cameras went to commercial as he was finishing.No matter.Mauri’s Chicago run proved two important points.First, he’s the real deal. The 2:05:54 he ran at the Glass City Marathon in Toledo, Ohio, in April was no fluke.The unconventional training—two intense days each week, Tuesday with double workouts and a Sunday long run—worked and worked well. If he can stay healthy and figure out how to stave off late-race cramps, Mauri will be a factor at the 2028 Olympic Marathon Trials.And second, pro marathoning doesn’t have to be so serious all the time. It’s been a long time since running fans have seen a delightful character like Mauri.For years, the top American marathoners were coming out of Nike’s pro groups—Bowerman Track Club and Nike Oregon Project—and no detail was too small for those coaches to monitor. But as Mauri proved, success doesn’t always have to require napping, strength coaches, personalized nutrition, and long stints at altitude.Mauri doesn’t have a coach but at least one expressed admiration for him.“I was rooting for him,” said Mike Smith, who coaches Galen Rupp. “It's also hard to have a bunch of eyes on you. He got all this attention, and that can be heavy. These [marathons] are hard enough, but when you're kind of carrying this weight of expectation, I think that's tricky. So I was very very proud of him, and he's certainly got a big future. I don't know. I mean, slugging it out at Planet Fitness. How do you not root for him?”Mauri, in drug testing, was not immediately available to talk to media after the race.But he did post to Strava.“Checked off my goal of having more fun than anyone out there for the first hour,” he wrote.“Decided pretty early that I was going to go for it and be world class or die trying. Hammys were tensing up at around 30K, and stopped several times to stretch em out (thank you short treadmill rest for being able to get back on it.) Will take it a tad more serious next time, but couldn’t be happier with putting it all out there. Support system is unparalleled. Congrats to absolutely everyone out there racing and a giant thank you for the warm welcome into this new environment.”Find Your Next Running PlaylistSarah Lorge Butler is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!