M25-29 Half Marathon: Skogsberg surges to the front and never looks back

• Richard Skogsberg won M25-29 in 1:07:19 (5:08/mi), climbing from 3rd to 1st among men by mile 6.9 on the fastest men's middle split of the race.
• Ryan Somerfield held steady for 2nd in 1:11:11 (5:26/mi) — a 3:52 gap back to the winner, but secured by the 6th-fastest men's closing split.
• Cameron Goldstone (3rd, 1:12:50) and Noah Forrey (4th, 1:13:27) were separated by just 37 seconds, with Forrey posting the 12th-fastest men's closing split to climb four spots in the final stretch.
• Arman Soleimani (5th, 1:13:39) and Spencer Hoffman (6th, 1:14:03) rounded out a tight sub-1:14 cluster, just 12 seconds apart.

The story of the M25-29 race was written in the middle miles. Richard Skogsberg, running at a blistering 5:08/mi average through a cold, wet Napa morning — 40°F, light rain, and 84% humidity — was already moving through the men's field when he hit the 3.1-mile mark sitting 3rd among men. He then posted the fastest men's split on the 3.1M–6.9M segment, and that surge was decisive: by mile 6.9 he had taken the overall men's lead, a position he would not relinquish. His 1:07:19 finish left the rest of the M25-29 field nearly four minutes behind.

Ryan Somerfield was the steadiest presence behind him. Sitting 9th among men through the first two checkpoints, Somerfield closed with the 6th-fastest men's split from 6.9M to the finish to take 2nd in 1:11:11 — a composed, controlled race that never wavered. Cameron Goldstone (3rd, 1:12:50) also held his position well, running the 10th-fastest men's middle split to stay in contact with the lead group before settling into third.

The most dramatic movement in the back half came from Noah Forrey. The Gillette, WY runner was sitting 20th among men at mile 6.9 before unleashing the 12th-fastest men's closing split to rocket up to 15th overall among men and 4th in M25-29 at 1:13:27 — a genuine catch-up that nearly reeled in Goldstone. Arman Soleimani (5th, 1:13:39) and Spencer Hoffman (6th, 1:14:03) completed a remarkably compact top six, with just 20 seconds separating Soleimani from Forrey and Hoffman from Soleimani. In a field of 139, that kind of density at the front made for a compelling race — even if Skogsberg was long gone by the time it played out.