Cleveland Marathon 10K — M50-54: Beery Leads a Tight Podium Charge

• Matthew Beery (age 54, Macedonia) took the M50-54 title in 49:27 at a 7:57/mi clip — the only finisher in the group to break 50 minutes.
• The top three were separated by just 59 seconds: Beery (49:27), Matthew Troyer (49:55), Anthony Bondi (50:26).
• Kevin Rottinghaus rounded out the top four in 51:09, while the gap from 4th to 5th — Rottinghaus to Kevin Krisle's 52:04 — was a more decisive 55 seconds.
• 33 men finished in the M50-54 age group on a humid, breezy Cleveland morning — 67°F, 83% humidity, and a 15 mph wind that made every second count.

Matthew Beery, at 54 years old and the oldest man on the podium, ran the sharpest race in the M50-54 field. His 7:57/mi average was the only sub-8:00 pace in the group, and his 49:27 finish gave him a clean 28-second cushion over second place — comfortable, but not untouchable.

That second-place battle was the real drama at the front. Matthew Troyer (49:55, 8:02/mi) and Anthony Bondi (50:26, 8:07/mi) were locked in a genuine duel, separated by just 31 seconds at the finish. Troyer held the edge, but Bondi — at 50, the youngest man on the podium — pushed him every step of the way.

Behind the podium, the race stretched out steadily. Rottinghaus (51:09) and Krisle (52:04) kept the pressure on through the top five, while Erick Miller (53:18) and Christopher Rowland (53:30) were separated by just 12 seconds in a tight 6th-vs-7th battle. The field thinned considerably after that — Jason Mccabe crossed 8th in 54:22, and Todd Hain's 56:49 marked a clear step back into the second tier. Across all 33 finishers, the range from Beery's winning 49:27 to the back of the listed field tells the full story of a competitive but spread-out M50-54 morning on the streets of Cleveland.