M30-34: Ammons edges Blumberg in a sub-2:17 battle at CIM

• Mitch Ammons wins in 2:16:48 (5:13/mi), with Kellen Blumberg just 10 seconds back at 2:16:58 and Jason Salyer another 16 seconds behind at 2:17:14 — three men under 2:17:15 in a race run through light December rain.
• Ammons was the strongest finisher in the top three, climbing from 66th among men at the first checkpoint all the way to 27th by the finish — a relentless, patient charge through the field.
• Blumberg and Salyer both had scorching late miles, posting the 23rd- and 17th-fastest final 2.2K splits in the entire field, respectively — both men gaining ground when it mattered most.
• Marcos Bailon logged the 9th-fastest split in the field on the 25K–30K stretch, the most blistering individual segment mark in the M30-34 top five.

Mitch Ammons came to Sacramento and ran a composed, grinding race. He was outside the top 60 among men through the early checkpoints, but by 30K he had cracked the top 30 and never looked back, crossing in 2:16:48 at 5:13/mi to take the M30-34 title. The win was built on sustained momentum rather than a single dramatic surge — he simply kept moving forward while others held or faded.

Kellen Blumberg made it close. Starting conservatively around 98th among men, he ran one of the most aggressive negative splits in the group, eventually finishing 28th among men and just 10 seconds off Ammons. Jason Salyer, meanwhile, ran a different kind of race — he was as high as 34th among men early, drifted back toward 51st by midrace, and then rallied with a strong final segment to claim 3rd at 2:17:14. Matthew Crehan in 4th told the inverse story: 21st among men early, he gradually faded to 44th by the finish, holding on for a still-impressive 2:18:08.

Behind the podium, the M30-34 field was deep and competitive across 807 finishers. Zac Holtkamp (2:20:47), Ruairi Moynihan (2:21:21), and Shane Whalen (2:22:29) rounded out a tight chase pack, while the top 20 were all under 2:26 — a strong collective performance on a cool, damp Sacramento morning.