M20-24 Marathon: Gulden Goes the Distance on Kaua'i

• Jarrett Gulden won the M20-24 group in 3:08:35 (7:12/mi), finishing more than 16 minutes clear of runner-up Andrei Makarchuk.
• Gulden posted the 2nd-fastest men's split on the 6.55 Miles→Half segment in the entire men's field — his strongest stretch of the race.
• Makarchuk closed hard, recording the 8th-fastest men's split on the final 24.15 Miles→Finish segment among all men — a strong late push to secure 2nd.
• Sixth and seventh place were separated by less than two seconds at the line: Jacob Shew (4:18:02) edged Tristan Konieczny (4:18:03) for 6th.

Jarrett Gulden, 23, from Walpole, ME, controlled the M20-24 race with authority. He was moving through the men's field at a 7:12-per-mile clip, and his early aggression paid off — his split through the first half was among the sharpest in the entire men's field. He climbed as high as 2nd among men at the midpoint before settling into 4th overall by the finish, a testament to how hard he pushed early and how competitive the broader men's race was.

Andrei Makarchuk, 21, from Honolulu, made his move in the back half. After sitting 10th among men at the halfway checkpoint, he steadily worked his way up and finished 9th in the men's field, backed by the 8th-fastest men's closing split from mile 24.15 to the finish. He crossed in 3:25:15 — a solid 7:50/mi effort on a humid Kaua'i morning — to claim 2nd in the M20-24 group. Dylan Paccione rounded out the podium in 3:52:13, finishing 33rd among men.

The battle for 6th was the tightest moment of the day in this group. Jacob Shew and Tristan Konieczny were locked together across 26.2 miles of 77-degree, humid racing, and when it was over, Shew had the edge by a single second — 4:18:02 to 4:18:03. Behind them, the field spread out considerably, with the final five finishers ranging from 5:17 to 6:19, a reminder of just how demanding the Kaua'i course can be in late-summer conditions.