M30-39: Precit Dominates Broken Arrow's IFC in a Class of His Own

• James Precit, 1:18:03 — wins M30-39 by nearly 9 minutes, averaging 15:37/mi on a course that climbs through Tahoe's thin air above 6,700 ft.
• Tight battle for 3rd: Joey Renner (1:30:06) edged William Nguyen (1:30:33) by just 27 seconds for the final podium spot.
• Closest finish of the day: Luke Coan (7th, 1:42:27) and Kevin Eckhart (8th, 1:42:28) — separated by a single second.
• 18 finishers spread across a 1:35:52 window, from Precit's 1:18:03 to Nikhil Tellakula's 1:53:55 — Tellakula (18th) finishing one second behind Brian Hayzlett (17th, 2:53:54).

James Precit, 39 years old and racing in his own backyard at Incline Village, NV, made the M30-39 field look like a different race entirely. His 1:18:03 at a 15:37/mi average on a rugged course topping out near 7,200 feet was nearly nine minutes clear of second place — a margin that speaks for itself at any altitude, let alone in the thin air above Lake Tahoe. Danny Naylor (2nd, 1:27:01, 17:24/mi) ran a solid race in his own right but never had an answer for Precit's pace.

The real drama unfolded behind Naylor, where Joey Renner (Auburn, CA) and William Nguyen (Menlo Park, CA) waged a close battle for the final podium spot. Renner's 1:30:06 held off Nguyen's 1:30:33 by just 27 seconds — a margin that can evaporate in a single rocky switchback at this elevation. Yann Schnorhk (5th, 1:33:16) and Lance Harpe (6th, 1:34:54) rounded out a tightly clustered middle group, with just under two minutes separating 3rd through 6th.

Further back came one of the day's most striking moments: Luke Coan (Boulder, CO) and Kevin Eckhart (also Boulder, CO) crossed in 7th and 8th at 1:42:27 and 1:42:28 respectively — one second apart after more than 100 minutes of racing. The field then stretched considerably, with Manuel Mora (9th, 1:44:14) giving way to a long tail that reached all the way to Nikhil Tellakula, who finished 18th in 2:53:55 — one second behind Brian Hayzlett's 2:53:54 in 17th, a fitting bookend to a day full of razor-thin margins.