Masters Men at the B.A.A. 10K: Folch Takes the Title in a Blazing Battle Up Front

• Tomas Folch wins in 34:51 (5:37/mi), edging Aaron Price by 11 seconds and Yuzuru Sakakibara by 17 in a tight three-man race for the podium.
• Pierre Boulay, 55, from Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley, QC, claimed 6th in 36:39 — one of the more remarkable efforts in a field of 1,069 masters men racing in 77°F heat.
• Casey Strange, 58, finished 18th in 39:28 (6:21/mi), matching Pete Isberg's time to the second but edged out by the timing system for 18th place.
• The top three were separated by just 17 seconds, while a 55-second gap opened between 3rd and 4th place, marking a clear break between the podium and the rest of the field.

Brookline, MA claimed the top two spots at the B.A.A. 10K Masters Men race, with Tomas Folch, 43, crossing first in 34:51 at a 5:37/mi clip. Right on his heels was fellow Brookline runner Aaron Price, 45, who finished in 35:02 — and the data tells a story of a closing surge. Price moved from 62nd to 52nd among the men's field over the course of the race and posted the 43rd-fastest men's split on the 8K-to-finish stretch, meaning he was reeling runners in hard down the stretch but couldn't quite bridge the gap to Folch.

Yuzuru Sakakibara, also of Brookline and also 40, rounded out the podium in 35:08 at 5:39/mi — but his race told a different tale. While Price was charging, Sakakibara faded slightly, slipping from 50th to 54th among the men's field between 5K and the finish. He held on for 3rd, but the 6-second gap to Price and 17 to Folch reflected a podium that was genuinely contested throughout. Behind them, Justin Maloney (4th, 36:03) and Patrick Hogan (5th, 36:32) couldn't match that front-group pace, with Hogan posting the 67th-fastest men's split on the second half.

The depth across 1,069 finishers on a warm Boston morning was real. Pierre Boulay, 55, running in from Quebec, clocked 36:39 for 6th — a strong effort that underscores just how competitive the masters field was at the top. Further back, Casey Strange at 58 years old ran 39:28 for 18th, a performance that stands out given the conditions. With the mercury at 77°F and a 12 mph wind, every second in this field was earned.