M35-39: Wehrman Wins a Fast, Contested Race on Chicago's Streets

• Mark Wehrman took the M35-39 title in 1:19:22 (6:03/mi), holding off Christopher Cebula by 36 seconds.
• Christopher Cebula mounted one of the day's most aggressive charges, climbing from outside the top 80 among men to 49th by the finish — and posting the 32nd-fastest split in the field on the 15K-to-finish stretch.
• Matthew Lobdell mirrored Cebula's late surge, moving from outside the top 90 among men all the way to 62nd, to claim 4th in M35-39 in 1:21:48.
• Eduardo Martinez (5th, 1:22:48) ran the reverse arc — sitting 46th among men at 5K before fading to 71st by the tape.

Mark Wehrman ran a controlled, efficient race in 74°F heat with a 12 mph wind, averaging 6:03 per mile across 13.1 miles. His position among men barely budged in the middle miles — moving from 50th at the first checkpoint to 47th by 15K — before a final push brought him home 43rd among men. It was a wire-to-wire performance in M35-39, and the winning margin of 36 seconds over Cebula was comfortable enough that he never had to panic.

Christopher Cebula (2nd, 1:19:58, 6:06/mi) told a very different story. He was 83rd among men through the opening 5K and still 69th at 10K — well off the pace of the leaders — before turning on the jets. His 32nd-fastest split in the field from 15K to the finish was the move that defined his race, ultimately bringing him within 36 seconds of the win. Jeffrey Ramirez (3rd, 1:20:34, 6:09/mi) was steadier throughout, tracking in the 50s-to-60s range among men from early on and never straying far from his eventual podium spot.

The gap from the podium to fourth was meaningful — Lobdell's 1:21:48 sat 1:14 behind Ramirez — but Lobdell's closing speed was arguably the best in the group, surging from 92nd among men at 10K all the way to 62nd at the finish. Martinez's fade from 5th to 71st among men was the starkest reversal in the top ten, his 1:22:48 (6:19/mi) costing him ground in the back half after a strong early effort. Behind the top five, the field tightened considerably: Rich Calvario (6th, 1:23:26) through Michel Moreau (10th, 1:25:19) were separated by just under two minutes across five places.