San Francisco Half Marathon 2025: Rockvam edges Allen in a 7-second M20-29 thriller

• Aidan Rockvam (Harrisburg, SD) wins M20-29 in 1:24:43 (6:28/mi), steadily climbing from 16th to 9th among men en route to the title.
• Clayton Allen closes just 7 seconds back in 1:24:50 — also averaging 6:28/mi — after a blistering surge from 37th to 10th among men.
• John Peabody (San Francisco, CA) completes the podium in 1:26:16, finishing 15th among men with a composed, consistent run.
• A field of 437 M20-29 finishers featured six runners under 1:27, with the top two separated by the narrowest of margins.

Aidan Rockvam, just 20 years old and racing out of Harrisburg, SD, crossed the line in 1:24:43 to claim the M20-29 title at the 2025 San Francisco Marathon Half. He moved with purpose all race long, climbing from 16th to 9th among men by the finish — a steady, controlled push rather than a single explosive moment. His 6:28/mi average held firm across 13.1 miles of San Francisco terrain, and a top-eight split among men on the 5.34M–6.15M segment showed he wasn't just managing the race, he was racing it.

Clayton Allen made things genuinely uncomfortable. Starting the race back in 37th among men, the 22-year-old from Vineyard, UT, ran one of the most aggressive progressions in the field — moving to 18th, then 15th, then 13th, before cracking the top ten by the finish. On the 10.54M–11.05M segment he posted the 5th-fastest men's split in the field, a surge that nearly caught Rockvam entirely. In the end, 7 seconds separated them at 1:24:50. Same displayed pace, very different journeys to get there — Allen had to make up a lot of ground to get that close.

John Peabody, a San Francisco local, ran a remarkably even race — sitting 23rd among men at multiple checkpoints before lifting to 15th by the finish. His 1:26:16 (6:35/mi) earned third place and left him 1:33 behind Rockvam. Just 10 seconds further back, 20-year-old Koyo Kai (Milpitas, CA) finished 4th in 1:26:26, while Jake Boston (Hercules, CA) and Andy Vo (San Jose, CA) rounded out the top six in 1:26:40 and 1:26:45 respectively — six runners inside 1:27, all separated by two minutes flat.