M40-49 at Rio Del Lago 50K: Miller Seizes Command and Never Lets Go

• Brian Miller (49, El Dorado Hills) won M40-49 in 4:08:21 — a 7:60/mi average that left the field nearly 21 minutes behind.
• Tim Larson and Andrew Ironside separated by just 31 seconds — 4:29:35 to 4:30:06 — for the 2nd and 3rd spots in the age group.
• Miller posted the fastest split on the Willow Creek→Beals Point 2 segment among the men, a stretch that coincided with his move to the front of the men's field for good.
• Benjamin Crew (44, Granite Bay) owned the Granite Beach 1→Granite Beach 2 segment with the fastest men's split on that leg, helping him lock up 5th in M40-49.

Brian Miller did not ease into this race. He opened near the front of the men's field — 2nd at the first checkpoint — before briefly slipping to 4th, then surged back decisively. By the time the field hit Willow Creek→Beals Point 2, Miller had posted the fastest men's split on that segment and moved into 1st among the men, a position he never surrendered through the final four checkpoints. At 49 years old, the oldest finisher on the M40-49 podium, he crossed in 4:08:21 — more than 21 minutes clear of anyone else in the age group.

The real drama in M40-49 was the battle for 2nd and 3rd. Tim Larson (43, Folsom) ran a patient, progressive race — 13th among the men early, climbing steadily to finish 4th in the men's field overall and 2nd in the age group in 4:29:35. Andrew Ironside (42, Sacramento) tracked a similar arc, moving from 9th to 5th among the men and landing 3rd in M40-49 just 31 seconds back at 4:30:06. Larson's edge came partly on the Beals Point 2→Granite Beach 1 leg, where he ran the 2nd-fastest men's split; Ironside was 4th-fastest on the same stretch — close, but not quite enough to close the gap.

Luis Abundis (40, Dayton, NV) rounded out the top four in 4:38:20, having run the 2nd-fastest men's split on the Beals Point 1→Willow Creek leg — a strong mid-race move that kept him in contention before a slight fade through the back half. Behind the top five, Andrew Robertson (46, Orangevale) was the first of the back-half finishers in 5:51:09, with the remaining ten spread across a wide window that closed out with Steven Theuring (41, Folsom) in 8:01:13.