Masters Male: Mertens owns the fog at Jed Smith 100K

• Solo and dominant: Billy Mertens was the only Masters Male finisher, crossing in 8:05:31 at a 7:49/mi average across 62.1 miles of Sacramento fog.
• Never pressured: Mertens held the men's lead from the very first checkpoint through the finish — 1st among men at every single split.
• Fastest segment of the day: He posted the fastest men's split on the Out & Back→Lap 1 leg, a standout stretch in an already commanding run.

There was no drama in the Masters Male race at the 2026 Jed Smith Ultra Classic 100K — and that's because Billy Mertens, 59, of Louisville, CO, simply never let any develop. In cool, foggy Sacramento conditions with virtually no wind, Mertens went out in front of the men's field and stayed there, wire to wire, through every checkpoint on the course.

His 8:05:31 finish at 7:49 per mile is a number worth sitting with: that's sustaining a sub-8-minute mile for more than eight hours, in 93% humidity, at 59 years old. Mertens didn't just hold the men's lead — he reinforced it on the Out & Back→Lap 1 segment, where he ran the fastest men's split of the entire field on that stretch, a surge mid-race that underscored he wasn't merely surviving out front but actively racing.

As the sole finisher in the Masters Male field, Mertens is both the champion and the standard-setter. That 8:05:31 stands as the mark to beat next year.