Men's Ultramarathon: Rocha Rewrites His Story With a Course-Leading 6:09:05

• Tyler Rocha wins in 6:09:05 (7:03/mi) — more than 15 minutes faster than his 4th-place finish here in 2024 (7:18:13), and the fastest men's time on the day.
• Carson Clowes, the 2024 champion (6:30:42), finishes 3rd in 6:32:02 — defending title gone but still within 90 seconds of his winning time a year ago.
• Christopher Grove makes the biggest positional move of the race, climbing from 11th at the first marathon checkpoint to 5th overall in 7:26:28.
• Four men break 7:00/mi average across 52.4 miles of San Francisco streets, bridges, and park paths — a remarkably fast top end for this 85-man field.

Tyler Rocha came to San Francisco with unfinished business. A year ago he crossed the line 4th in 7:18:13; this time he led wire-to-wire at a 7:03/mi clip and never let anyone close, finishing in 6:09:05 — a margin of 15 minutes over runner-up Yu Wu. That's what a motivated return looks like on 52.4 miles of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Embarcadero, and two full laps of the SF Marathon course. He also posted the 2nd-fastest split of the first-marathon-to-finish segment among the men, which tells you his second loop was no survival jog.

Yu Wu (Pasadena) was the story of the back half. Starting 4th at the midpoint checkpoint, Wu ran the fastest men's split from the first-marathon turnaround to the finish, climbing to 2nd place and holding it in 6:24:05 (7:20/mi). That's a genuine catch-up — Wu ran the second loop faster than anyone in the field while others faded. Carson Clowes, who won this race outright in 2024 and was 2nd here in 2023, slipped from 2nd at the checkpoint to 3rd by the finish, crossing in 6:32:02. His 2024 winning time was 6:30:42 — so the title defense fell short by just 80 seconds, with a faster winner in front of him.

Devin Williams (Martinez) held 4th throughout in 6:54:37, while the real drama behind him was Grove's charge. Christopher Grove went from 11th at the halfway mark to 5th overall, finishing in 7:26:28 — a second-loop surge that swallowed six competitors. Chris Miller (7:28:40), Jonathan Shamwana (7:29:03), and Shawn Barton (7:30:05) finished 6th through 8th within 85 seconds of each other, making for a tight cluster at the back of the top ten. Jesse Larios, 6th here in 2024 in 7:43:04, returned to finish 13th in 8:03:14 — a tougher day this time around, but another San Francisco ultra in the books.