2X Men: Our Place Runs Down the Mountain to Take the Crown

• Our Place (Cozad & Partyka) won the 2X Men in 21:01:00 — finishing 1:13:57 ahead of second place.
• Two Be Determined (Learned & Kline) took 2nd in 22:14:57, surging through the middle miles with the 3rd- and 4th-fastest splits on the 45M→50M segment.
• Sand to Summiteers (Macaluso & Ryan) led early before fading to 3rd in 23:16:30; Breaking Bad (Galligani & Drozd) were just 1:45 back in 4th at 23:18:15.

The 2X Men field sent four teams across 81 miles of Salton City desert and Palomar Mountain climb — from 234 feet below sea level to 5,500 feet up — and the race belonged to Our Place from the final stretch onward. Jared Cozad and Darren Partyka of Reno, NV, weren't always at the front: their gender standings ping-ponged between 5th and 10th through the middle miles. But on the 50M→68M segment, they locked in the 5th- and 6th-fastest splits in the women's field for that stretch, surging from 10th to 5th in the gender standings and never looking back. They crossed in 21:01:00 at a 15:34/mi average — a full 1:13:57 clear of the field.

Two Be Determined — David Learned (54, San Pedro) and Joshua Kline (49, Saint Augustine) — made their move in the 45M–50M window, where Kline posted the 3rd-fastest and Learned the 4th-fastest splits on that segment among the women's field. That surge lifted them from 9th and 10th in the gender standings to 7th and 8th, and they held on to claim 2nd in 22:14:57 at 16:29/mi.

Sand to Summiteers told a different story. Jim Macaluso and Jamaal Ryan of San Diego opened aggressively — sitting as high as 1st and 2nd in the gender standings through the early miles and posting the 2nd-fastest 40M→45M split among women. But the mountain had the final say: they slid steadily back through the second half, finishing 3rd in 23:16:30. Breaking Bad — Jake Galligani and Johnny Drozd, both San Diego locals — kept it honest to the end, crossing just 1:45 later in 23:18:15 to take 4th.