M45-49: Stachowiak Wins a Sub-74 Showdown in the Chill

• Maciej Stachowiak (Warszawa) took the M45-49 title in 1:13:54 (5:38/mi), the only finisher in the group to break 1:14.
• Angel Velazquez ran 1:14:59 to claim 2nd, with Duncan Nyasinga 29 seconds further back in 3rd at 1:15:28 — a tight podium separated by just 94 seconds across all three.
• The top-5 gap was decisive: Alex Pomerleau (4th, 1:16:22) and Andrew Smith (5th, 1:17:30) both finished over two minutes behind the winner.
• 1,421 men competed in M45-49, making it one of the deepest age groups on the course.

Under a crisp 40-degree sky on the Prospect Park to Central Park route, Stachowiak ran a commanding race from the front. His checkpoint data tells the story: he entered the men's field around 135th and worked his way steadily forward, sitting 127th by the 15K-to-20K segment — where he posted the 124th-fastest split among the men on that stretch, a strong late push that confirmed he wasn't fading when others were. His 5:38/mi average was a full five seconds per mile faster than Velazquez, and that gap only grew as the miles wore on.

Velazquez's race unfolded in the opposite direction. He was moving through the men's field early — sitting 126th through 5K — but progressively lost positions from 10K onward, eventually settling 160th among men by the finish. His 10K-to-15K split was the 155th-fastest among men on that segment, a sign of slowing rather than surging. Still, a 1:14:59 at age 45 is a sharp performance, and he held off Nyasinga comfortably. Nyasinga (3rd, 1:15:28) showed a similar pattern — strong early positioning around 125th in the men's field, then a gradual drift to 174th by the line — but his 5:45/mi average was good enough to secure the final podium spot by a comfortable 54 seconds over Pomerleau.

Behind the top three, the race compressed quickly. Pomerleau (4th, 1:16:22), Smith (5th, 1:17:30), and Emmanuel Houze (6th, 1:17:55) were followed by a cluster of New York-area runners — Frederick Hines (7th, 1:18:05), Orlando Quichimbo (8th, 1:18:15), and Amado Tlatempa (9th, 1:18:22) — all finishing within 17 seconds of each other. Dallas Maddox rounded out the top ten at 1:18:45.