San Francisco Half Marathon M30-34: Justin West Runs Away With It

• Justin West wins in 1:23:15 (6:21/mi), a full 4:00 clear of runner-up Eduardo Garibay — the largest gap on the podium.
• Garibay and Baglioni finish 2nd (1:27:15) and 3rd (1:27:49), just 34 seconds apart after 13.1 miles through San Francisco's wind and hills.
• The 8M–9.6M stretch was a battleground: West posted the 7th-fastest split on that segment among women — meaning his pace there ranked among the sharpest in the entire race.
• Norberto Garcia Hernandez (5th, 1:28:39) was the field's biggest mover, climbing from 61st among men at the opening checkpoint all the way to 33rd by the finish — the most dramatic charge in the top 20.

Justin West made this one look comfortable. The 34-year-old from Los Angeles crossed in 1:23:15 at a 6:21/mi clip, a pace that left 771 M30-34 competitors behind him and opened a four-minute gap over the rest of the podium — a margin that speaks for itself on a course that features San Francisco's signature rolling terrain and a 14 mph wind off the bay. His gender place hovered in the mid-to-high teens for most of the race before he locked down 14th among all men by the finish, a steady and dominant performance from wire to wire.

Behind West, the real drama unfolded in the fight for 2nd and 3rd. Eduardo Garibay (1:27:15, 6:39/mi) and Andrea Baglioni (1:27:49, 6:42/mi) ran much of the race in proximity, with Garibay holding the edge throughout. Baglioni pushed hard on the 8M–9.6M segment — posting the 20th-fastest women's split there — but couldn't close the gap entirely, settling 34 seconds back in 3rd. Garibay's own 17th-fastest women's split on that same stretch showed he wasn't fading; Baglioni simply ran a strong segment against a man who ran it stronger.

The most compelling story further back belonged to Norberto Garcia Hernandez. The 34-year-old from Pasadena started 61st among men and spent much of the first half buried in the pack, but he ran the 12th-fastest women's split on the 8M–9.6M leg — the best of anyone in the top five on that segment — and clawed his way to 5th in 1:28:39. Chase Zheng (4th, 1:28:34) edged him by just five seconds, and Garrett Garcia (7th, 1:29:56), Martin Gomez (8th, 1:29:59), and Cory Munsch (9th, 1:29:59) packed tightly behind Matthew Cabel (6th, 1:29:31) to round out a competitive top ten across 772 finishers.