M25-29: Soltys Surges Late to Take the Title at Marine Corps

• Daniel Soltys wins in 2:24:30 (5:31/mi), improving on his 7th-place men's finish here in 2024 (2:29:52) — a 5:22 swing in one year on the same course.
• Brett Brady ran the 2nd-fastest men's split from 15K to 21K and led the men's field as high as 2nd before fading to 8th overall among men, finishing 2nd in M25-29 at 2:26:18.
• Elijah Green was the race's great mover, climbing from 61st among men at the 10K checkpoint all the way to 17th by the finish — the 5th-fastest men's closing split from 40K to the line, good for 4th in M25-29 at 2:30:47.
• Patrick Hanley, running on home turf in Arlington, posted the 7th-fastest men's finishing kick (40K→Finish) to claim 3rd at 2:27:46.

Daniel Soltys came back to the Marine Corps Marathon with unfinished business, and he made it count. A year after crossing in 2:29:52 for 7th among men, the Falmouth runner returned and sliced more than five minutes off that effort to win M25-29 in 2:24:30. He wasn't at the front early — sitting 8th among men at the 10K mark — but he steadily reeled in the field, posting the 3rd-fastest men's split from 10K to 15K and grinding his way up to 4th among men by the finish. On a cold, damp October morning in Arlington, that kind of patient, building race is hard to execute — Soltys did it cleanly.

Brett Brady made the race interesting through the half. Running the 2nd-fastest men's split on the 15K-to-21K stretch, he surged as high as 2nd among men before the race turned against him in the back half, and he faded to 8th in the men's field overall. Still, his 2:26:18 (5:35/mi) was more than enough to hold 2nd in M25-29, a full 1:28 clear of Patrick Hanley. The Arlington local Hanley, meanwhile, saved his best for last — his strong 40K-to-finish split helped him edge out what became a compelling late-race battle for the final podium spot.

The story of the day beyond the podium belongs to Elijah Green. Starting well back — 61st among men through 10K — the Las Vegas runner ran a methodical, relentless second half, eventually posting the 5th-fastest men's closing split to finish 4th in M25-29 at 2:30:47. Behind him, Callum O'Neill (5th, 2:31:57), Jeremy Carter (6th, 2:32:32), and Victor Carrillo (7th, 2:32:50) were separated by less than a minute across three places. The top 20 in M25-29 — out of 2,720 finishers in this field alone — finished within 19 minutes of each other, a testament to the depth of one of the largest marathon fields in the country, organized and run by the U.S. Marine Corps.