Kaua'i Marathon M45-49: Ajram Runs Away with It

• Josef Ajram won the M45-49 group in 3:20:45 (7:39/mi), finishing nearly 12 minutes clear of runner-up Keith Yurevitz (3:32:41).
• Ajram climbed from 7th to 5th among men through the middle stretch and never relinquished that ground — a steady, controlled advance through the Kaua'i humidity.
• Eric Eisemon (3:39:30) and Nikolaus Daubert (3:42:09) battled for the final podium spot, with Eisemon holding on by just under 2:40.
• The M45-49 field spanned more than 3 hours 16 minutes from first to last, with 18 finishers spread across a wide range of efforts.

Josef Ajram made the trip from Barcelona count. Running 7:39 per mile through 77°F heat and sticky humidity on Kauai's coastal roads, the 47-year-old built his lead methodically — moving up among the men from 7th place early to 5th by the halfway mark and holding it through the finish. His strongest relative segment came on the stretch from 6.55 miles to the half, where he posted one of the faster splits in the men's field on that leg. This was a race run with purpose, not desperation.

Behind him, Keith Yurevitz of Wailuku had a tougher second half. He was running 6th among the men at the early checkpoint but faded to 13th by mile 24 before recovering slightly to 12th at the line — his 3:32:41 still good enough for a comfortable 2nd in the M45-49 group, but a sign that the back end of this course extracted a toll. Yurevitz finished 8:07/mi for the day; Ajram's 28-second-per-mile advantage over him is the kind of gap that doesn't happen by accident.

The real drama played out in the battle for 3rd. Eric Eisemon (Oakland, CA) ran a strong final two segments, posting the 19th-fastest men's split on the 22.25-to-24.15-mile stretch and moving from 30th among men at the gun to 20th at the finish. Nikolaus Daubert (Honolulu) also closed well — 12th-fastest men's split from mile 24.15 to the finish — but couldn't quite reel Eisemon in, settling for 4th in 3:42:09. Patrick Mckenna rounded out the top five in 3:50:57, also a strong closer, climbing from 61st among men at the start to 31st by the tape.