10/01/2026
What a story!!! Let’s go!!!!!!
Vinny Mauri sold running shoes for a living five months ago.
The 25-year-old from Warren, Ohio, walked into the Glass City Marathon in Toledo in April with no coach, no agent, no shoe sponsor, and no ratified 10K or half-marathon on his record. He ran 2:05:54. Alone. No pace group. The fastest marathon debut any American has ever run, and fourth on the all-time US list behind only Conner Mantz, Khalid Khannouchi and Leonard Korir.
On Thursday, he announced on Instagram that he has signed with ASICS. Seventeen days before he lines up in Chicago for his second-ever marathon.
Between April and September, he stayed at Second Sole in Youngstown. He kept writing his own workouts. His hardest session most weeks was a Tuesday double-threshold that added up to about 100 minutes of hard running, on top of 110 miles a week.
Chicago on October 11 is a field led by Jacob Kiplimo's 2:00:28 and Amos Kipruto's 2:01:39. Nine men in the field have faster personal bests than Mauri.
He is now, officially, one of them.
A shoe store job, a self-written training plan, a 2:05 debut, and a contract.
