M40-49 at Jed Smith Ultra Classic 50K: Sharman Dominates, But Past Champions Chase Hard

• Ian Sharman won the M40-49 group in 3:26:34 (6:39/mi), running in 2nd among the men for most of the race.
• Piotr Kaszkur, the 2025 men's champion (3:36:03), worked his way from 12th to 7th among the men, finishing 4th in M40-49 in 4:00:53 — a notable fade from his title-winning form last year.
• Karl Schnaitter, 2nd among the men in 2025 (3:37:47), slipped to 3rd in M40-49 this year in 3:58:03, nearly 21 minutes off his prior-edition time.
• A field of 12 in M40-49 spanned from Sharman's 6:39/mi to Cameron Andelin's 13:28/mi finish of 6:58:38.

Ian Sharman, 45, from Bend, OR, was simply in a different gear on a cold, foggy Sacramento morning. His 3:26:34 at 6:39/mi put him clear of the M40-49 field by nearly 15 minutes and kept him among the top two men for the entire race. He also posted the 2nd-fastest split on the Out & Back→Lap 1 segment among the men — an early statement of intent that he never needed to walk back.

Sergey Vasyliev held a steady 3rd place among the men from start to finish, crossing in 3:41:00 (7:07/mi) for 2nd in M40-49 — a pace meaningfully quicker than the 7:40/mi that Karl Schnaitter ran to 3rd place in 3:58:03. Schnaitter, who was 2nd among the men here in 2025 with a 3:37:47, gave back over 20 minutes this time around, though he still secured the M40-49 podium.

The most intriguing subplot belonged to Piotr Kaszkur. The 2025 men's champion — who crossed in 3:36:03 that day — arrived in Gold River, CA as the defending title-holder and spent the early miles buried as low as 12th among the men. He clawed steadily forward, posting the 4th-fastest split on the Lap 5 (Marathon)→Finish segment, and eventually settled 7th among the men and 4th in M40-49 at 4:00:53. It was a race of recovery rather than dominance, and a reminder that defending ultra titles across editions is its own kind of challenge.

Matt Cover (4:10:50) and Samuel Cooper (4:20:15) rounded out the top six, while Jonathan Strack, Michael Guss, Miles Scotcher, Chris Cardinal, and Cameron Andelin — finishing between 5:02:43 and 6:58:38 — completed a full M40-49 field of twelve on a damp, foggy morning along the American River.