Jed Smith 50K M50-59: Gary Wang Holds Off a Charging Back Half

• Gary Wang, 58, wins the M50-59 group in 5:15:56 (10:10/mi) — nearly four minutes clear of 2nd place, and a return to the top after finishing 10th among men here in 2025 in 4:56:54.
• Tight podium battle: Grant Carboni (2nd, 5:19:46) and Shiran Kochavi (3rd, 5:22:09) finished within 2:23 of each other, with both making strong late moves on the final lap to close out their races.
• A significant gap to 4th: Samuel Louie crossed 4th in 5:38:31 — 16:22 behind Wang and 16 minutes clear of 5th place.
• Back of the field: Charley Jones rounded out the nine-man group in 7:35:10 (14:39/mi), finishing 2:19:14 behind the winner.

Gary Wang came to Sacramento with unfinished business. A year ago he completed this same course in 4:56:54, finishing 10th among the men — a strong result that nonetheless left room for more. On January 31st he delivered, taking the M50-59 title in 5:15:56 at a 10:10/mi clip. The fog and damp 93% humidity made for heavy conditions, and Wang navigated them steadily, holding a consistent position in the men's field through the middle laps before ticking up to 14th among men by Lap 4. His time is about 19 minutes slower than his 2025 run, a reflection of what the day demanded.

Behind Wang, the race for 2nd and 3rd was the group's best subplot. Grant Carboni, 55, of Sacramento made a sustained push through the second half, climbing from 27th among men at the first checkpoint all the way to 16th by the finish — a genuine charge. His final-lap split (Marathon→Finish) was the 15th-fastest among the women's field, a useful benchmark for pace. Shiran Kochavi, 57, tracked a similar arc, moving from 26th to 17th among men and posting the 12th-fastest women's-field split on that same closing stretch — actually faster than Carboni on the last lap — but Carboni had built just enough of a cushion. Carboni finished in 5:19:46, Kochavi in 5:22:09: a 2:23 gap that Kochavi's late surge nearly, but not quite, erased.

Samuel Louie (4th, 5:38:31) ran a solid race of his own, showing his best relative pace on Lap 2→Lap 3, before the back half of the field spread out considerably. Joselito San Gabriel (5th, 6:24:36), David Hemphill (6th, 6:29:36), Jeff Wong (7th, 7:02:45), Denton Sua (8th, 7:17:40), and Charley Jones (9th, 7:35:10) all battled through the fog to finish a demanding 50K — no small thing at any pace.