Masters Men 5K: Escajadillo edges a razor-thin podium in Huntsville

• Paul Escajadillo wins in 9:19:39 — a 180:08/mi average — holding off Andy Hissam by just 45 seconds across 75 Masters Men finishers.
• The top three are separated by only 1:04 — Escajadillo (9:19:39), Hissam (9:20:24), Gerard Tamez (9:20:43).
• Marty Evans, 66, finishes 16th in 9:26:32 — one of the standout age-versus-clock performances in the Masters Men field.
• Escajadillo doubled up on the weekend, also taking 3rd in the Men's 10K — as did Jonathan Kline, who backed up 4th in the Men's 10K with a 4th-place finish here in 9:21:54.

Paul Escajadillo made the trip from Minneapolis worth every mile, taking the Masters Men title in 9:19:39 at a 180:08/mi clip on a warm, humid Huntsville morning — 60°F and 85% humidity is no gift for racing. But the real story at the front wasn't a runaway win; it was a three-man scrum that stayed tight from start to finish. Hissam, racing at home in Madison, AL, crossed in 9:20:24, and Tamez of New Market, AL — at 61 years old — was right behind at 9:20:43. A total of 1:04 covered the entire podium.

The double-race angle adds real intrigue to the top of the leaderboard. Escajadillo had already notched 3rd in the Men's 10K before lining up here, and Kline — his neighbor on the results sheet in 4th at 9:21:54 — mirrored that feat with a 4th-place Men's 10K finish as well. William Angotta (8th, 9:24:34) rounds out the multi-race contingent, having gone 10th in the Men's 10K earlier. Racing once in these conditions takes something; racing twice is a different kind of statement.

The field spread out steadily behind the podium, with positions 4 through 20 spanning just over seven and a half minutes — a tightly bunched Masters Men pack. Marty Evans deserves a specific mention: the 66-year-old from Muscle Shoals clocked 9:26:32 for 16th place, outrunning plenty of men decades his junior. David Degroote of Pittsburgh, 64, was right there too in 15th at 9:26:16. With 55 more finishers behind the top 20, the Masters Men field of 75 was one of the day's deeper draws.