M20-24: Fenton Flies to the Tape at The People's Marathon

• Zachary Fenton won M20-24 in 2:25:16 (5:32/mi), posting the fastest men's split on the 10K→15K segment and climbing from 10th to 3rd among men at his peak.
• Joe Reimann stormed home with the 2nd-fastest men's split on the 40K→Finish stretch, vaulting from 23rd to 12th among men to claim 4th in M20-24 at 2:27:57.
• The podium was tight: just 2:25 separated Fenton's winning 2:25:16 from Ian Webb's 3rd-place 2:27:41.
• Zach Jowers backed up his 2024 appearance — when he finished 10th among men in 2:31:11 — with a 5th-place M20-24 finish in 2:29:03, trimming more than two minutes off his previous time here.

In a 42°F morning along the national monuments, the M20-24 field at Marine Corps — all 1,424 finishers of it, in a race that offers no prize money — produced one of the sharpest top-end battles of the day. Zachary Fenton of Pensacola set the tone early, registering the fastest men's split through the 10K→15K stretch and working his way as high as 3rd among men before settling into 6th for much of the middle miles. He held his form when others faded and crossed in 2:25:16 at 5:32/mi — a commanding win.

Runner-up Elijah Wilcox and 3rd-place Ian Webb — both from USAF Academy in Colorado — ran a disciplined pair of races. Wilcox (2:26:19, 5:35/mi) was methodical, moving from 13th among men at the 10K to 8th by the 30K before finishing 9th among men overall. Webb (2:27:41, 5:38/mi) was similarly steady, producing the 8th-fastest men's split on the 15K→21K leg and holding position through the back half. The two Air Force teammates finished 1:22 apart, with Wilcox edging Webb by that margin for silver.

The race's most dramatic late move belonged to Joe Reimann of Milton, FL. Running 23rd among men as far as the 35K mark, Reimann unleashed the 2nd-fastest men's closing split from 40K to the finish — a surge that carried him all the way to 12th among men and 4th in M20-24 at 2:27:57. Meanwhile, Zach Jowers — a familiar face here after his 2024 run — improved his Marine Corps time by more than two minutes to claim 5th in 2:29:03. The top 20 in M20-24 was rounded out by a tight cluster, with Grayson Childress (10th, 2:36:25) and four runners between 2:39:32 and 2:39:56 bunched within 24 seconds across places 15 through 18.