M35-39 at the B.A.A. 10K: Korir Dominates in the Heat

• Leonard Korir won the M35-39 age group in 28:00 (4:30/mi), leading the men's field wire-to-wire and posting the fastest men's split from 5K to 8K.
• Ben True ran down four men's rivals between the start and 5K to finish 2nd in 28:09 — just nine seconds back — and closed with the fastest men's split from 8K to the finish.
• David Nilsson claimed 3rd in 28:58, moving from 22nd to 14th in the men's field across the race and logging the 9th-fastest men's split from 5K to 8K.
• A 77°F morning with a 12 mph wind separated the field sharply: the top three finished under 29 minutes, while 4th-place Ruben Sanca clocked 31:23 — a gap of more than two and a half minutes.

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In a field of 311 M35-39 finishers on a warm Boston morning, Leonard Korir made it look straightforward. The 35-year-old from Kenya held 1st in the men's field from the opening split through the tape, finishing in 28:00 at a 4:30-per-mile clip. He didn't just lead — he surged hardest in the middle miles, producing the fastest men's split between 5K and 8K to put the race firmly out of reach.

Ben True had other ideas about the podium. The 36-year-old from West Lebanon, NH, started modestly — 7th in the men's field at the first checkpoint — but worked his way to 4th by 5K and held there to the line, finishing 2nd in 28:09. What makes his run especially compelling is the finish: True owned the fastest men's split from 8K to the finish, meaning he was accelerating while others were hanging on in the heat.

David Nilsson of Kalmar rounded out the podium in 28:58 (4:40/mi), and his trajectory tells a clean story — 22nd in the men's field early, 17th at 5K, 14th at the line. He was steadily picking people off all morning. Behind him, Ruben Sanca (4th, 31:23) and Brad Mish (5th, 32:03) completed a top five that was tightly grouped relative to the rest of the 311-man field, where Ryan Irwin's 6th-place 33:50 began a long tail stretching deep into the afternoon heat.