M25-29 at Long Beach Half Marathon: Harris Runs Down the Field and Doesn't Look Back

• Jaquavious Harris (1:03:53, 4:52/mi) took the M25-29 title with the fastest finishing kick — the 5th-fastest closing split (10.8M to finish) among the men — after moving from 3rd to 1st at the first checkpoint and never relinquishing the lead.
• Salvador Capetillo posted the single fastest closing split among the men (10.8M to finish) on his way to 2nd in 1:04:05 — but Harris had already built enough of a cushion that Capetillo's blazing finish closed the gap to just 12 seconds, not the win.
• Lars Dewall and Noah Carey were the biggest movers in the top ten, each climbing from outside the top 15 among men at the first checkpoint to finish 4th (1:05:15) and 5th (1:05:24) respectively, with Dewall posting the 2nd-fastest middle split (5.5M–10.8M) and Carey the 3rd-fastest on the same stretch.
• Xavier Smith (3rd, 1:05:07) rounded out the podium with the 3rd-fastest closing split in the men's field, finishing 1:02 behind Harris and just 8 seconds behind Capetillo.

Cool, clear conditions at Long Beach — 59°F with no wind — set the table for fast racing, and the M25-29 field delivered. Jaquavious Harris of Murray, UT, moved to the front early: by the first checkpoint he had already climbed from 3rd to 1st among the men, and he held that position all the way to the tape in 1:03:53 at a 4:52/mi clip. It was a controlled, authoritative performance from wire to wire.

Behind him, Salvador Capetillo of Flagstaff, AZ, was the strongest closer on the course among the men — nobody ran the final stretch faster — but his surge from 4th to 2nd tells the story of a race run from behind. He crossed in 1:04:05, 12 seconds short of Harris. Xavier Smith of Lake Forest, CA, also had plenty left at the end, recording the 3rd-fastest closing split in the men's field to secure 3rd in 1:05:07.

The most dramatic charge through the field came from Dewall and Carey. Lars Dewall (San Diego, CA) sat 16th among men through the first checkpoint, then unleashed the 2nd-fastest middle segment to vault all the way to 4th in 1:05:15. Noah Carey of Los Angeles matched him stride for stride on that same stretch — 3rd-fastest middle split — finishing 5th in 1:05:24. Their back-half surges turned what looked like a two-man podium battle into a genuine five-man fight for the top spots.

Further back, Luke Calubayan (6th, 1:07:29) and Antonio Carbajal Rico (7th, 1:08:43) led a deep pack of Southern California runners filling out the field, with all 1,100 finishers navigating the same calm Long Beach morning. The front of the M25-29 race, though, belonged to Harris — efficient, early, and ultimately untouchable.