Napa Valley Marathon 5K — M35-39: Bryan Sim Runs Away With It

• Bryan Sim wins in 18:16 (5:53/mi) — a full 61 seconds clear of 2nd place in a field of 25.
• Christopher Wendel (19:17) and Carlos Martin (19:41) lock up the podium, separated by just 24 seconds.
• Jeff King and Alejandro Contreras finish 9th and 10th in 27:46 and 27:47 — one second apart after 3.1 miles.
• Tim Hillas completes the top five in 24:01, opening a gap of nearly four minutes to 6th-place Pierre Rohel (24:43).

Bryan Sim made this one look clean. The 38-year-old San Franciscan crossed in 18:16 at a 5:53/mi clip, putting a 61-second margin on the rest of the M35-39 field before Christopher Wendel even came into view. On a cool, humid morning in Napa — 55°F, 93% humidity, a light breeze off the valley — Sim's pace was in a different register from everyone else's, and the gap reflected it.

Behind him, Wendel (19:17, 6:12/mi) and Carlos Martin (19:41, 6:20/mi) ran a tight podium battle, with Wendel holding 2nd by 24 seconds. Austin Baraki followed in 4th at 20:20 (6:33/mi), rounding out a compact lead pack where the top four finished within two minutes of each other. Then the field opened up: Tim Hillas took 5th in 24:01, nearly four minutes back of Baraki and a full half-minute ahead of Pierre Rohel's 6th-place 24:43.

The most entertaining finish of the day came at the back of the top ten, where Jeff King (9th, 27:46) and Alejandro Contreras (10th, 27:47) separated by a single second after 3.1 miles of running. Gregory Geer (11th, 29:20) and Alonso Rodriguez (12th, 29:32) were similarly matched a couple of minutes later. The field stretched out considerably from there, with James Gotelli (19th, 43:41) and Christopher Buttone (20th, 46:34) completing the listed finishers on the Kiwanis Club's out-and-back course — every one of them putting community funds to work with each step.