Vincent Mauri is gearing up for a big test at the Chicago Marathon, where he will go up against some of the best runners in the world, including Jacob Kiplimo, Amos Kipruto, Clayton Young, and more. But what makes the 25-year-old American stand out is his unusual approach to the sport. He coaches himself, does most of his training on a treadmill, and was relatively unknown in the marathon world before running  2:05:54 in his marathon debut at the Glass City Marathon. Now, just months after that, he is ready to take on the elite field in Chicago, and he has no intention of standing on the sidelines while the leading runners battle it out.

Mauri is not travelling to Chicago on October 11 just to experience running a major marathon. He wants to compete with the front pack and see how he measures up against runners who have spent years competing at the highest level. Speaking to Olympics.com, he made his intentions clear. “Wherever the big pack of those guys is, I’m going to be at, I’m going to be racing there,” he said.

“I just want to see what it feels like to race people in the marathon,” he said, before later adding: “I’m pretty confident that at least I’m in the same shape or better than I was in Toledo.”

When Mauri lined up for the Glass City Marathon in Toledo, Ohio, in April, he was not expecting to run 2:05:54. His original target was 2:16, which he later revised to 2:12 after realising he might be capable of more. Instead, he won the race in a time that made him the fourth-fastest American marathoner in history at the time.

His path to that breakthrough was far from smooth. Mauri competed in middle-distance events at Arizona State University before continuing his college career at the University of Notre Dame. He had the potential to develop into a strong 5,000m or 10,000m runner, but injuries and disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic repeatedly interrupted his progress.

According to Runner’s World, Mauri suffered close to 10 bone stress injuries during his college running career, with some forcing him to spend at least eight weeks away from training.  After graduating from Arizona State with a degree in biomedical engineering in 2023, Mauri struggled to find work in his chosen field and eventually took a job at a running store.

Competitive running was no longer his main focus, but he never thought he had reached the end of his career. “I knew I would come back to running. I didn’t know when it would be,” he told Olympics.com. When he eventually returned to serious training, he did things his own way, and his results soon caught people’s attention.

One of the biggest differences between Mauri and many of his competitors is how he prepares for races. While elite marathoners typically spend long hours running on roads and outdoor routes, Mauri completes most of his training on treadmills at a public gym. 

“I’m almost at 100 miles a week on the treadmills,” he said. Rather than viewing the treadmill as a temporary substitute for outdoor running, Mauri has made it a central part of his training. He believes it has served him well so far and sees no reason to change a system that has already helped him run one of the fastest marathon debuts by an American.

Mauri also writes his own training plans instead of working with a personal coach. He believes being self-coached gives him the freedom to design workouts with a clear purpose while adjusting them to how he feels on a particular day. “No one’s going to tell me to pick it up or slow it down,” he explained.

That independence may not be the usual route for an elite athlete, but it is a part of his approach that he values. He also limits his use of carbon-plated shoes during training, partly because of the speed restrictions on the treadmills he uses.

Chicago, however, will present a different challenge from his marathon debut. In Toledo, Mauri found himself running at a pace well beyond what he had originally planned, and he had to adjust his mindset as he approached the final miles. This time, he will face athletes with far more experience racing at the front of major marathons.

Mauri faces a star-studded Chicago Marathon field

Jacob Kiplimo is one of the biggest names Mauri will have to contend with. The Ugandan holds a marathon personal best of 2:00:28, set at the 2026 London Marathon, where he finished third behind Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha. Sawe won in 1:59:30, becoming the first man to break two hours in a record-eligible marathon, while Kejelcha crossed the line in 1:59:41. 

Amos Kipruto is another runner Mauri will have to watch closely. The Kenyan set his personal best of 2:01:39 at the 2026 London Marathon, where he tried to chase down Kiplimo. He also finished second behind the Ugandan at the 2025 Chicago Marathon. Ethiopia’s Milkesa Mengesha is another experienced name in the field. He ran his personal best of 2:03:17 to win the 2024 Berlin Marathon, although he has not reached that level again since. 

For Mauri, Clayton Young could provide an interesting comparison. Young’s personal best of 2:05:41, set at the 2026 Boston Marathon, is 13 seconds faster than Mauri’s debut. He finished seventh at the Great North Run on September 13 in 1:02:04, although his injury status could affect his chances in Chicago. If fit, Young will give Mauri a direct measure of where he stands among America’s top marathoners.

Mauri also has his sights set beyond Chicago. With the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics less than two years away, he believes making the U.S. team could be possible if he stays healthy and continues to improve.

“If I can stay healthy for two more years, it’s definitely going to be on the table,” he said. For now, however, his attention is on Chicago and the chance to test himself against some of the world’s best.