Men's Marathon: Jordan English Takes Memphis in a Thriller

• Six-second decision: English crossed in 2:28:02, edging Williams by just six seconds after a lead-change duel that stretched across 26.2 miles.
• Wire-to-wire front-runner caught: Williams led from the 5K checkpoint all the way through mile 22, only to be run down in the final stretch by English surging from 2nd to 1st.
• Artacho's late charge: Bruno Artacho (2:29:58) posted the fastest men's split on the 8M–10M segment and climbed from 5th at every intermediate checkpoint to claim 3rd — never budging from that spot until the final miles when he locked it in.
• Defending champion returns: English won this race in 2023 in 2:30:21; he came back two years later and ran 2:28:02 — two minutes and nineteen seconds faster — to reclaim the title.

In 35°F mist through downtown Memphis, the men's race delivered one of the tighter finishes you'll see. Benjamin Williams of Baltimore bolted to the front early, posting the fastest men's split on the 5K–10K segment, and held the lead from that point through mile 22 — a front-running performance that had every hallmark of a wire-to-wire win. Jordan English of Kansas City had other ideas.

English tracked Williams patiently, sitting as far back as 4th at the opening checkpoint before methodically climbing — 3rd, then 2nd — while Williams controlled the pace at 5:39/mi. Somewhere in those final miles, English shifted. He moved from 2nd to 1st and never looked back, finishing in 2:28:02 to Williams's 2:28:08. Six seconds. For context, English won this same race in 2023 in 2:30:21; his 2025 return was measurably sharper, and the result was a reclaimed title.

Nashville's Bruno Artacho ran a tactically clean race from the outside. He sat 5th through nearly every checkpoint, bided his time, and then uncorked the fastest men's split on the 8M–10M stretch to cement 3rd place at 2:29:58. Behind him, Clay Emge of Tyler, TX worked his way forward all morning — starting 7th, slipping to 11th, then grinding back to 4th (2:30:31) with the fastest men's split on the 30K–22.5M segment. Tristan Kelly of Jackson, TN, who had shadowed Williams in 2nd for much of the race, faded to 5th in 2:30:57 after posting the 2nd-fastest men's split on the 10K–8M stretch — a reminder that early speed has a cost.

Walt Johnson (2:36:01, 6th) and Nicholas Yanek (2:38:51, 7th) led the chase pack home, with 1,268 men finishing across a raw, misty Memphis morning.