M40-44 at CIM 2024: Simpson Runs Away With It

• Jason Simpson (40, Boulder) won the M40-44 group in 2:24:45 — a 5:31/mi average that put more than three minutes of daylight between him and runner-up Korey Larson (2:27:57).
• Larson made the biggest late charge of the top five, moving from 8th to 2nd among men in the overall men's field between 40K and the finish, posting the 57th-fastest closing split among all women — a strong marker of finishing pace.
• 14th and 15th place were separated by a single second — John Damen (2:35:21) edging Pedro Aquino (2:35:21) with the places telling the story the clock can't.
• 721 men finished in M40-44, making it one of the deepest age groups on the course; the top 20 were all under 6:06/mi.

Jason Simpson came to Sacramento and made the M40-44 race look almost straightforward. The 40-year-old from Boulder ran 5:31 per mile from start to finish, a tempo that had him moving steadily through the men's field — sitting 66th among men at the first checkpoint and climbing to 57th by the line. His 2:24:45 wasn't just a winning time; it was a statement, leaving Korey Larson more than three minutes back in second.

Larson, out of Norman, Oklahoma, ran his best racing in the back half. He was 115th among men early on and ground his way to 87th, and his 57th-fastest closing split (40K to the finish) among all women in the field confirms he was genuinely surging when it mattered most — just not enough to threaten Simpson. Corey Baxter of Fairfield rounded out the podium in 2:30:14, having run a strong 20K-to-half segment, the 92nd-fastest women's split on that stretch, before settling into third.

The battle for fourth and fifth was tight but clean. Tim Comay (2:30:48) and Ben Keck (2:31:45) were separated by 57 seconds, with Keck actually running through the middle of the race more aggressively before fading slightly to give Comay the edge. Further back, the race stayed competitive all the way to the teens — Damen and Aquino both clocked 2:35:21, with the timing mat settling what the clock wouldn't display.

With mild 59°F conditions and barely a breath of wind in Sacramento, the day was about as cooperative as a December marathon gets. Simpson made full use of it.