M35-39: Daubord Storms from Mid-Pack to Take the Title

• Brice Daubord, 2:26:17 (5:35/mi) — wins M35-39 by over 15 minutes, posting the fastest men's split on the 14.95-to-18-mile stretch.
• Danny Stults led the men's field early before fading to 11th overall among men; he still claimed 2nd in M35-39 at 2:41:52.
• Zhaolong Zhong (3rd, 2:46:07) and Edward Stace (4th, 2:50:00) were separated by under four minutes, with Lupe Palalia (5th, 2:50:44) close behind — the 3rd-through-5th podium spots covered just 4:37.
• Thirteen M35-39 finishers broke 3:00:00, in a field of 495.

Danny Stults came out swinging. The Springfield, IL runner held the lead among men from the opening miles through the first major checkpoint, running the 2nd-fastest split in the field on the 2.2-to-5.7-mile segment. But the front-loaded effort took its toll — Stults slid steadily backward through the second half, ultimately finishing 11th among men and 2nd in M35-39 at 2:41:52 (6:10/mi).

While Stults was fading, Brice Daubord was quietly building. The 37-year-old from Orléans entered the race sitting 4th among men at one checkpoint before methodically working his way forward — moving to 3rd, then 2nd, and finally seizing the overall men's lead by mile 18. He punctuated the move with the fastest split in the entire field on the 14.95-to-18-mile segment, a surge that broke the race open. He crossed in 2:26:17 at a 5:35/mi clip — a commanding win that left Stults more than 15 minutes back.

Behind the top two, the battle for the M35-39 podium was genuinely tight. San Francisco local Zhaolong Zhong ran a measured race, posting the 16th-fastest first-half split in the field and holding his position throughout to finish 3rd in 2:46:07. Edward Stace of Chico made his move late — recording the 17th-fastest split in the field from miles 18 to 24 — to secure 4th in 2:50:00. Lupe Palalia of San Jose had the 3rd-fastest closing split in the field from mile 24 to the finish, but it wasn't quite enough to catch Stace, landing him 5th in 2:50:44.

Further back, the M35-39 field showed real depth: Andrii Fil (6th, 2:51:50), Kevin Cicchini (7th, 2:54:57), and Derek Yarra (8th, 2:56:45) all finished within five minutes of Stace, and a total of thirteen runners in this group cracked the three-hour barrier across a 495-man field.