Men's 50K: Preston Seizes the Crown in a Race Full of Late Drama

• Scott Preston (Midlothian, TX, age 43) won the men's 50K in 3:19:20 (6:25/mi), posting the fastest men's split on the 5K→10K segment and ultimately holding off every challenge across 31 miles.
• Adam Fortin (Rogers, AR, age 43) finished 2nd in 3:26:19 — the fastest men's split on the 10K→15K leg — but couldn't close a 6:59 gap to Preston at the line.
• Eric Alt (San Francisco, CA, age 33) rounded out the podium in 3:33:44, running the 2nd-fastest men's split on the closing 43.6K→Finish stretch.
• Steven Ems (Rancho Cucamonga, CA, age 34) was the biggest mover in the top ten, climbing from 14th at the opening checkpoint all the way to 4th by the finish in 4:01:31.

Scott Preston didn't just win this race — he wrestled it away, twice. His place-progression tells the real story: after leading early, he ceded the top spot to Adam Fortin somewhere in the 10K–15K window, then clawed it back, surrendered it again in the 33K–38K stretch, and then reclaimed it for good to cross the Dallas City Hall finish line in 3:19:20 at a relentless 6:25-per-mile clip. Fortin, running the fastest men's split on the 10K→15K leg, clearly had the speed to threaten — but Preston's late-race resolve was the decisive factor.

Fortin's 3:26:19 (6:38/mi) made him a worthy rival, and the pair's combined 86 years of age running sub-3:30 in a 31-mile ultra on a misty, humid Dallas morning is worth pausing on. Eric Alt completed a clean podium in 3:33:44, and his 2nd-fastest men's closing split from 43.6K to the finish suggests he was building momentum right when it mattered least for the standings — though it bodes well for his next outing.

The real drama behind the podium belonged to Steven Ems. Starting 14th, he methodically picked off runners across the back half of the race, posting the 4th-fastest men's split on the 33K→38K segment and landing 4th overall in 4:01:31 (7:46/mi). Kyle Braun (5th, 4:02:22) was no slouch either, running the 4th-fastest men's split on the 25K→33K segment — but Ems's late surge was the sharper move. Just 51 seconds separated them at the finish. George Stahle (6th, 4:04:31) rounded out the top six for the Dallas locals, with 154 men finishing across the foggy festival weekend course.