M25-29: Kocis Dominates Cleveland on a Warm Morning

• Jacob Kocis, 2:21:50 (5:25/mi): Won the M25-29 age group wire-to-wire, never relinquishing his lead among men at any checkpoint.
• Tyler Polman's charge: Started 13th among men, ran the fastest M25-29 split from the half to mile 19.1, and climbed all the way to 2nd by the finish in 2:32:02 — a 1:10:12 gap to close over the back half.
• Andre Bollam-Godbott vs. Nick Stricklen: Third (2:33:24) and fourth (2:35:50) were separated by 2:26, with Bollam-Godbott holding the position he'd occupied since the early miles.
• 312 finishers completed the M25-29 race on a 75°F morning with 68% humidity — conditions that made every second earned.

Jacob Kocis, 25, of Versailles, KY, turned in one of the most commanding performances in the M25-29 age group. He held the lead among men from the gun through every checkpoint and posted the fastest M25-29 split from 10K to the half — a stretch where the humidity and heat were fully in play. His 5:25/mi average over 26.2 miles in those conditions is the number that defines this race, and it held up without a serious challenge.

Behind him, Tyler Polman told the most compelling story of the morning. The Independence, OH, 27-year-old was running 13th among men at the early checkpoints, but he steadily picked off competitors — 9th, then 7th, then 4th — before closing out 2nd in 2:32:02 at 5:48/mi. His half-to-mile-19.1 split was the fastest in the M25-29 field over that stretch, and it's what propelled him onto the podium. Where others faded in the back half, Polman accelerated.

Andre Bollam-Godbott, 27, of Lexington, KY, was steady from the start — sitting 3rd or 4th among men through nearly every checkpoint — and finished 3rd in 2:33:24 (5:51/mi), posting the third-fastest 5K-to-10K split in the group. Nick Stricklen of Mansfield, OH, ran a similar early trajectory and crossed 4th in 2:35:50 (5:57/mi), also recording the fourth-fastest 5K-to-10K split. The top four were separated by just 14 minutes; the next 308 finishers had a lot more ground to make up on a morning that didn't give anyone a free pass.