M55-59: Daniel Kono Runs Away with Napa in 2:55:30

• Daniel Kono (San Rafael, CA) wins M55-59 in 2:55:30 (6:42/mi) — nearly 10 minutes clear of the field.
• Murray Dunn climbs from 115th to 74th among men in the second half, posting the 38th-fastest men's split from 20M to the finish to claim 2nd in 3:05:20.
• David Plyler mirrors Dunn's late surge, also cracking the top 100 men by the finish (89th) with the 76th-fastest men's split from 20M to the finish en route to 3rd in 3:10:00.
• 70 finishers completed the M55-59 race across a 48°F morning on Napa's point-to-point Silverado Trail course.

Daniel Kono didn't just win M55-59 — he dominated it. Running 6:42 per mile from San Rafael, the 55-year-old reached the finish in 2:55:30, a margin of nearly ten minutes over his nearest rival. His gender place actually dipped slightly in the first half (36th to 38th among men) before he found another gear, climbing back to 31st by the finish and posting the 36th-fastest men's split on the second half. That late acceleration is what separates a good race from a commanding one.

Behind Kono, the real drama was a two-man charge through the back half of the course. Murray Dunn of Tiburon — sitting 115th among men at the halfway point — ran the 38th-fastest men's split from 20 miles to the finish, surging all the way to 74th overall among men and 2nd in M55-59 in 3:05:20 (7:04/mi). David Plyler of Bakersfield mounted a nearly identical late push: 142nd among men at the half, 89th by the tape, with the 76th-fastest men's split over that same closing stretch, finishing 3rd in 3:10:00 (7:15/mi). Both men ran their best racing when it mattered most, though Dunn's closing split was the sharper of the two.

Gary Auten (Sunnyvale, 4th, 3:16:43) and Wei Song Yao (Fremont, 5th, 3:19:37) continued the theme of strong second-half movement, each climbing well into the top 150 among men by the finish. Philip Mcnally (6th, 3:22:54), Geoff Thompson (7th, 3:24:03), and Carlos Montanez (8th, 3:26:06) rounded out a competitive top ten, followed closely by Tom Macrae and Ed Ornelas — both finishing in 3:27-something — separated by just six seconds at 9th and 10th.