M35-39 Marathon: Watson Holds Off a Hard-Charging Field in San Francisco

• Tyler Watson (San Ramon, CA, age 36) took the M35-39 title in 2:49:16 (6:27/mi), the only finisher in the group to break 2:50.
• Brad Gayman ran the early miles in the men's top 10 before fading to finish 2nd in 2:51:05 — a 1:49 gap back to Watson at the line.
• Henri Romeo Patricio climbed from 50th among men at the early checkpoints all the way to 27th by the finish, backing it with the 15th-fastest split on the 14.95–18 Mile stretch to claim 3rd in 2:52:17.
• The top five were separated by just 4:49 across 26.2 miles in cool, humid 54°F conditions along the San Francisco waterfront.

Tyler Watson crossed in 2:49:16 at 6:27/mi to win the M35-39 field in a race of 407 finishers. His path to the title wasn't a wire-to-wire cruise — his position among the men's field fluctuated through every checkpoint, ranging from as high as 9th to as low as 16th at various stages. What mattered was where he stood at the finish, and no one in the M35-39 group could match his pace when it counted.

Brad Gayman told a very different story. The 39-year-old from Hailey, ID opened with a scorching early effort — sitting 2nd among men at the first checkpoint — but steadily worked his way back through the pack as the miles piled up, eventually settling 23rd among men by the finish. His 2:51:05 was still good enough for 2nd in M35-39, but the 6:32/mi average tells the tale of a front-runner who couldn't quite sustain the early ambition over 26.2 miles.

The most compelling late-race story belonged to Henri Romeo Patricio of San Bruno. Starting outside the top 50 among men and still sitting there past the halfway mark, Patricio turned on the jets through the back half — posting the 15th-fastest split in the field on the 14.95-to-18-mile segment — and reeled in runner after runner to finish 3rd in 2:52:17. Dan Lagoe (4th, 2:53:36) and Lupe Palalia (5th, 2:54:05) both recorded strong second-half splits as well, with Lagoe posting the 23rd-fastest second-half split and Palalia the 32nd, underscoring just how much racing was happening in the back half of this M35-39 contest.