Cleveland Marathon 5K — M40-44: Ryan Green Runs Away With It

• Ryan Green (Avon Lake, OH) won the M40-44 age group in 21:45 (7:00/mi), finishing a full 50 seconds ahead of runner-up Jeremy Long.
• The top four were all age 40, finishing within 1:20 of each other — Green through Steven Johnson (23:05, 7:26/mi).
• Irvin Dewey and Robert Norton both clocked 29:21–29:22 at 15th and 16th, separated by just one second across 3.1 miles.
• 51 men finished in the M40-44 group on a humid, breezy Cleveland morning — 67°F with 15 mph winds and 83% humidity.

Ryan Green made the M40-44 race look straightforward, crossing in 21:45 at a 7:00/mi clip — the kind of pace that leaves little room for conversation on a muggy May morning in Cleveland. His margin of victory was no fluke: 50 seconds back, Jeremy Long (Akron, OH) ran a solid 22:35 (7:16/mi) to claim 2nd, but Green was never truly threatened.

The battle for the podium's final step was the race's sharpest subplot. Christopher Bryant (North Olmsted, OH) took 3rd in 22:49 (7:21/mi), just 14 seconds ahead of Steven Johnson (Stow, OH), who finished 4th in 23:05 (7:26/mi). Both men ran well under 7:30/mi — a genuine fight for bronze that Johnson ultimately came up short in.

After the top four, the pace stepped back noticeably. Kennith Coleman (Morgantown, WV) crossed 5th in 24:31 (7:53/mi), with Antonio Santiago (Westlake, OH) close behind in 6th at 24:51. Jared Ingram of Lakewood — the only age-44 athlete in the top ten — earned 7th in 25:27 (8:11/mi), a worthy showing among a field dominated by 40-year-olds.

Deep in the results, the closest finish of the day came between Irvin Dewey (15th, 29:21) and Robert Norton (16th, 29:22) — one second separating two Cleveland-area runners after more than three miles in the heat and wind. In a race where the winner was long gone, that kind of finish still had something to prove.