Masters Men Ultramarathon: Nickerson Rules the Double Marathon

• John Nickerson wins in 6:47:49 (7:47/mi), the only Masters man to crack seven hours and the fastest finisher in this field by more than 34 minutes.
• Rudi Hillbo's closing surge: running the 5th-fastest split on the back half among the men, Hillbo climbed from 18th to 10th in the men's overall standings and edged Robert Kauss by just over four minutes for 3rd in the Masters field.
• Tight mid-pack battle: Paul Spitzmueller (7:56:50), Gary O'Brien (8:00:47), and Peter Lillie (8:08:19) finished within eight minutes of each other across places 6–8.
• Bradley Fenner's comeback: the 61-year-old finished 16th in 9:55:45 — more than 110 minutes slower than his 7:45:19 finish here in 2024, but still out there covering 52.4 miles through San Francisco's hills and the Golden Gate.

John Nickerson owned this race from start to finish. The 43-year-old San Franciscan — racing, quite literally, in his own city — moved from 8th to 6th in the men's overall standings across the second marathon and posted the 5th-fastest split on that final stretch among the men. His 6:47:49 wasn't just a Masters win; it was a statement that the field was chasing a different race entirely.

Robert Kauss held second place comfortably at 7:21:53, but the more compelling story behind him was Hillbo's charge. The Oslo-based 46-year-old ran the 7th-fastest closing split among the men — faster than Kauss's 12th-fastest on the same stretch — and that gap in pace is exactly how Hillbo reeled in eight places in the men's overall standings to land 3rd in the Masters at 7:26:34. Kauss faded slightly; Hillbo caught up. Pablo Hutchings-Herrera rounded out the top four at 7:40:32, with Goutham Moodlubyle completing the top five at 7:53:21.

One of the few urban ultramarathons in the country, this 52.4-mile double loop through the Embarcadero, Golden Gate Park, and across the Golden Gate Bridge tests legs and resolve in equal measure. Nowhere is that more visible than in the spread between 10th and 11th: Christopher Hilliard finished 10th at 8:16:33, while Brent Wong crossed 11th nearly an hour later at 9:15:24. The back half of this Masters field — all 33 finishers — earned every step of it.