M45-49 at Boston 2026: Bradbury Runs Away With It

• Samuel Bradbury wins M45-49 in 2:19:07 (5:18/mi), finishing more than six minutes clear of runner-up Patrick Blair (2:25:35).
• Tightest battle of the day: Jorge Larry (9th, 2:33:27) and Mark Kearney (10th, 2:33:29) were separated by just two seconds, with Wayne Blas (11th, 2:33:38) and Marcos Itano (12th, 2:33:45) arriving within the next seven seconds — four men packed into an 18-second window.
• Blair's late charge: Patrick Blair ran the 35K-to-23M segment as the 98th-fastest split among men, climbing from 204th to 140th in the men's field across the race — the biggest positional climb in the top ten.
• Iurgi Etxeandia Lejarcegui (16th, 2:37:02) and Eneko Atxa (17th, 2:37:04) crossed just two seconds apart to round out the top 20.

In a field of 2,413 M45-49 finishers racing through a cool, breezy Boston morning — 51°F and a 10 mph wind — Samuel Bradbury of Maine put on a commanding performance. His 2:19:07 at 5:18/mi wasn't just a win; it was a statement. He moved steadily through the men's field all the way to 63rd among men by halfway, and while he drifted two spots late, he was never seriously threatened. The gap to second place — six minutes and 28 seconds — tells the whole story.

Patrick Blair of Maryland ran the race of the top ten in terms of movement. Starting conservatively, he was as far back as 219th among men at 10K before reeling in competitors all the way to 140th by the finish. His 35K-to-23M leg was particularly sharp, and his 2:25:35 at 5:33/mi secured second place comfortably. John Kinsella (3rd, 2:25:57) and Carlos Tiago (4th, 2:26:31) completed the podium, with Kinsella actually fading slightly through the back half — he dropped from 121st to 155th among men — while Tiago gained ground steadily, climbing from 221st to 167th. The contrast in their approaches produced nearly identical finish times, separated by just 34 seconds.

Further back, the race for fifth through eighth played out across a two-minute window: Michael Kovermann (5th, 2:27:58), Sam Ives (6th, 2:29:39), Stephen Dinneen (7th, 2:30:35), and Marty Mccormick of Virginia (8th, 2:32:19) each carved out their own finishing corridor. Then came the four-man pileup from 9th through 12th — Larry, Kearney, Blas, and Itano — all finishing between 2:33:27 and 2:33:45. At 5:51–5:52/mi for 26.2 miles, that's racing at its most competitive.