M20-24: Robinson Owns the Age Group in Boston Heat

• Solo winner: Jason Robinson, 20, crossed in 26:18 (4:14/mi) — the only M20-24 finisher on the day.
• Steady men's field position: Held 3rd among men from the opening 5K all the way to the finish line.
• Blazing middle segment: Posted the 3rd-fastest split among women on the 5K→8K stretch — a remarkable cross-field benchmark on a sweltering 85°F morning.

Jason Robinson of Rome, NY had the M20-24 age group entirely to himself on a brutally warm Boston morning, but the 20-year-old gave the field plenty to watch anyway. Clocking 26:18 at a 4:14/mi clip, Robinson was never really racing for the age-group crown — he was racing the clock and the men around him, and he delivered.

What makes Robinson's run stand out is where he was in the broader field. He sat 3rd among men at every checkpoint tracked — 5K, 8K, and the finish — meaning there was no drift, no fade, no surge needed. He simply ran a controlled, disciplined race from wire to wire at a pace that held its shape in 85°F heat and 64% humidity.

The most eye-catching number, though, belongs to that 5K-to-8K segment. Robinson's split there ranked 3rd-fastest among the women in the race — a striking data point that speaks to how hard he was pushing through the meat of the course, when the heat and accumulated effort tend to expose any weakness. On a day when the conditions invited exactly that kind of unraveling, Robinson didn't blink.