Conner Mantz had already shown a late deficit wasn’t something that could prevent him from claiming victory at the Bolder Boulder.

Mantz doubled down on that approach once again to make a little history.

The biggest drama of the 45th Bolder Boulder on Monday arrived at the end of the annual Memorial Day 10K, and it was provided by another stunning late surge by Mantz.

Mantz thrilled the Folsom Field crowd to cap the men’s pro race, overtaking Kenya’s Daniel Simiu Ebenyo over the final 50 meters to win his third consecutive Bolder Boulder title.

Mantz became just the second athlete to win the men’s pro race three times, and he’s the first to win three consecutively. Arturo Barrios owns the men’s pro race record with four titles, but he won them over a span of eight years between 1986 and 1993.

Mantz finished two seconds ahead of Ebenyo, in 28 minutes, 21 seconds. Mantz tied the sixth-fastest time in the history of the Bolder Boulder men’s pro race. Spurred by the cool conditions, the top four finishers in the men’s pro field all cracked the all-time top-20 times in race history.

“It feels great. Arturo was a rival of one of my coaches, so that’s kind of fun,” Mantz said. “You look at the winners of this race. Frank Shorter and Arturo, you look at all the athletes that have come here and done well, it’s special.”

Before reaching the shadows of Folsom Field, Mantz figured he had fallen into a race for second-place with USA Red teammate Biya Simbassa. Once Mantz made his move against Simbassa, a bigger goal soon materialized.Mantz overtook Ebenyo in the final stretch in Folsom, but it was during the uphill climb into the stadium where Mantz closed the gap and clearly made Ebenyo, the leader for much of the second half of the race, nervous.

“About a half-mile to go I saw it was me and Biya for second, and if I make a move right now I might be able to beat Biya,” said Mantz, who collected $12,500 in prize money. “I saw (Ebenyo) starting to fade. He looked back a couple times, and I thought, ‘I’ve got to strike now.’ If he’s looking back a lot, it means something’s wrong. I know this course better than him.

“I closed most of the gap, and as soon as we got into the stadium he looked back one more time and I was like, ‘OK, he’s hurting a lot. I need to move.’ It was a good day.”

With Mantz and Simbassa leading the way, the USA Red team won the men’s International Team Challenge, marking the third consecutive year an American team captured the top spot. The USA White team finished second, with Aidan Reed, last year’s winner in the men’s citizen’s race, finishing fifth. Former CU standout Joe Klecker finished sixth. It was the third straight year the American teams swept the top two spots.

“This is so deceitfully hard as a course,” Mantz said. “That last half-mile is so brutal. Every other time I enjoyed (the finish) more because I felt pretty comfy. This time, I was hurting so bad it sounded quieter. This time it was grit my teeth and squinting my eyes and trying to push.”