Masters Men's Half Marathon: Muxen runs away with it in Napa

• Joshua Muxen, 46, wins in 1:09:33 (5:18/mi) — a 4:45 gap back to 2nd place, and the 11th-fastest men's second-half split in the field.
• Podium battle decided by six seconds: Mario Fraioli (1:14:18) edged Ben Koss (1:14:24) for 2nd, with Koss actually running the 22nd-fastest men's closing split to Fraioli's 23rd — a slight edge to Koss on the back half, but not quite enough.
• Chip Scarinzi, 42, finishes 4th in 1:14:48 with the 21st-fastest men's closing split — faster than both Fraioli and Koss on that segment, but too much ground to make up.
• Jason Williams, 57, posts 1:28:17 (6:44/mi) to claim 14th among 385 Masters Men finishers — one of the standout performances by age in the field.

On a crisp 41°F morning in Napa, Joshua Muxen of San Carlos turned the Masters Men's race into a solo time trial almost from the gun. His 1:09:33 at 5:18/mi wasn't just a division win — it placed him 12th among all men in the field, a position he held steady through the second half, and his closing segment ranked 11th-fastest among the men. At 46, Muxen ran a race that most open competitors couldn't touch.

Behind him, the battle for 2nd and 3rd was genuinely tight — six seconds over 13.1 miles. Mario Fraioli (1:14:18, 5:40/mi) held off Ben Koss (1:14:24, 5:41/mi), but the split data tells an interesting story: Koss ran the 22nd-fastest men's closing split to Fraioli's 23rd, meaning Koss was the one making up ground in the back half. He simply ran out of course. Chip Scarinzi, 4th in 1:14:48, actually posted the 21st-fastest men's closing split — faster than both men ahead of him on that segment — but the gap was already too large to overcome. Jason Arango rounded out the top five in 1:17:41 (5:56/mi), a comfortable margin back from the podium trio.

Further down, the Masters Men's field showed real depth across 385 finishers. Bradley Geilfuss, 51, cracked the top ten with a 1:23:54, and Jason Williams, 57, delivered a quietly impressive 1:28:17 (6:44/mi) for 14th — a reminder that the Masters field in Napa isn't just competitive at the front.