M40-44: Bellomy Runs Away from a 455-Man Field in San Francisco

• Bill Bellomy wins in 2:45:46 (6:19/mi), finishing nearly seven minutes clear of runner-up Tomohiro Ueno (2:52:45).
• David Hodge's late charge: Hodge climbed from outside the top 140 in the women's field early on to finish 3rd in M40-44 in 2:54:57, posting the 50th-fastest split in the field on the 18-to-25-mile stretch.
• Oliver Chan's closing surge: Chan ran the 46th-fastest split in the field on that same 18-to-25-mile segment, moving up from 76th in the women's field to finish 4th in M40-44 at 2:57:13.
• Tight battle for 5th–6th: Petar Markov (2:58:57) and Daniel Abera (2:59:07) were separated by just 10 seconds at the finish.

Bill Bellomy made quick work of a 455-man M40-44 field on a cool, humid San Francisco morning. The 40-year-old from Austin ran a steady 6:19/mi, and his movement through the women's field tells the story of a controlled, confident effort — he was sitting 28th among women through the early miles, worked his way up to 21st by the midpoint, and ultimately finished 23rd among women. His winning margin of 6:59 over Tomohiro Ueno was emphatic. Ueno, racing from Yokohama, held second comfortably in 2:52:45 at 6:35/mi, though his trajectory through the women's field drifted backward as the race wore on, slipping from 29th among women early to 49th by the finish.

The most compelling subplot in M40-44 was the late surge by the third and fourth finishers. David Hodge (San Diego) was buried deep in the women's field — 143rd — through the opening miles, but he ran one of the strongest second halves in the group. His 18-to-25-mile split was the 50th-fastest in the field, and he crossed in 2:54:57 at 6:40/mi for 3rd. Oliver Chan, racing at home in San Francisco, mirrored that pattern almost exactly: 105th in the women's field early, drifting back toward 121st before igniting a finish-line charge with the 46th-fastest split in the field on that same closing stretch. Chan's 2:57:13 was good for 4th, just over two minutes behind Hodge.

Rounding out the top ten, Petar Markov (Vallejo, 2:58:57) and Daniel Abera (San Francisco, 2:59:07) staged a tight duel for 5th and 6th — Abera ran 6:50/mi to Markov's identical average pace, but Markov got across the line 10 seconds sooner. Evan De La Garza (7th, 3:02:11) and Iuri Golubev (8th, 3:02:51) were separated by 40 seconds, while Don Wang (9th, 3:04:40) and Adam Borelli (10th, 3:04:50) finished just 10 seconds apart to close out a competitive top ten.