The Americans won the Los Angeles Marathon for the first time in 31 years.
Illinois native Matt Richtman is the second-largest winner in game history, the second-largest area in ABC7. He ran 2:07:56 and wore the American flag after crossing the finish line.
Ethiopia’s Tejinesh Gebisa Tulu won the women’s match at 2:30:16.
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Asics America President and CEO Koichiro Kodama celebrated with Matt Richtman after winning the Los Angeles Marathon on March 16, 2025 at Westfield Century City. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
“It was definitely a surprise,” Richman admitted after winning the game, according to ABC7. “You know, I feel really good; it’s hard to tell where you are competing, but it’s a really nice group and I’m really happy to run with these guys and then finally win the game.”
Richtman was second in front of Kenya’s Athanas Kioko, who scored 2:10:55, while Kenyan Mose Kiptoo’s companion finished third at 2:13:13.
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Richtman, the Montana State University Bobcat, added that he really “didn’t have much strategy” to win.
“In the first half of the year, I just wanted to stay in that group and really didn’t want to push the pace or lead or something like that, just stayed there and felt it,” because it was a challenging course.
Matt Richtman crossed the finish line and won the Los Angeles Marathon on March 16, 2025. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
“I was filled with fear throughout the game. It was hard when you couldn’t see what was going on behind you.”
Fear clearly pushed Richman to whatever equipment needed to keep pace and cross the finish line first.
Richtman thanked the people in Los Angeles for cheering him on the whole game.
Matt Richtman celebrates after crossing the finish line at the Los Angeles Marathon on March 16, 2025. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
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“It’s such a wonderful day, it’s the 40th anniversary of the competition, there are a lot of traditional runners here and her crowd is great,” he said. “There are people throughout the course, and that really helps. It’s amazing that the crowd can change your job.”
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