M35-39: Tsotu Runs the Men to a Standstill

• Nicholas Tsotu, 2:22:27 (5:26/mi) — won M35-39 and climbed to 2nd among all men by the finish, posting the 2nd-fastest men's split from 10K to the half.
• Sean Pont's closing kick — moved from 11th to 11th... wait — surged from 14th to 11th among men over the final 10K→Finish stretch with the 9th-fastest men's closing split, finishing 2nd in M35-39 at 2:40:28.
• Justin Hall's fade — ran the 4th-fastest men's split from 10K to the half (sitting 3rd among men at that point) but slipped from 4th to 22nd in the men's field by the finish, dropping to 4th in M35-39 at 2:51:04.
• 99 finishers completed the M35-39 race on a cold, clear Napa morning — 39°F at the gun with no wind.

Nicholas Tsotu was the story of the M35-39 field from the first mile marker. The 36-year-old from Fair Oaks ran 5:26 per mile across 26.2 miles — a pace that didn't just win his group but carried him all the way to 2nd among all men by the finish. He moved steadily through the men's field, going from 4th to 3rd to 2nd, and his split from 10K to the half was the 2nd-fastest of any man on the course. In a race where the men's course record sits at 2:16:29, Tsotu's 2:22:27 is a performance that commands real respect.

The most dramatic subplot belonged to Justin Hall of Louisville. Hall came through the first half with serious momentum — his 10K-to-half split was the 4th-fastest among all men, and he was sitting 3rd in the men's field at that point. But the back half of Napa told a different story: Hall faded from 4th to 22nd among men over the final miles, ultimately finishing 4th in M35-39 at 2:51:04. Sean Pont of Kentfield ran the opposite race, grinding through the middle miles before unleashing the 9th-fastest men's closing split (20M to finish) to claim 2nd in M35-39 at 2:40:28 — nearly 9 minutes clear of Joe Welling's 3rd-place 2:49:54.

Behind the podium, the M35-39 field was tightly bunched from 6th through 11th, with Tom De Bruyn (2:56:14), Billy Rosen (2:56:57), Romain Pelard (2:58:22), Anthony Katz (2:59:19), Don Wang (2:59:26), and Andrew Jensen (3:00:05) all finishing within four minutes of each other on a frigid but wind-still Napa morning.