M40-49: Kivi Runs Down the Men's Field to Claim the 100-Mile Title

• Josh Kivi (23:24:53) won the M40-49 race at 14:03/mi, posting the 2nd-fastest split on the Bull Wheel 3→Tunnel Creek 3 segment and climbing from 16th to 2nd among the men over the course of 100 miles.
• Derek Schultz (23:37:33) ran the fastest second-half split among the men, closing hard to finish 2nd in M40-49 — just 12:40 behind Kivi after 23-plus hours on the course.
• Bryan Botma (25:03:08) cracked the top three in M40-49 with the 3rd-fastest first-half split among the men, though he faded from 3rd to 7th among men in the back half before recovering to finish 3rd.
• 36 athletes finished in M40-49, spread across nearly eight hours of racing from Kivi's 23:24:53 to the final listed finisher.

Josh Kivi had a race to remember across 100 miles of the Tahoe Rim Trail. The 43-year-old from Reno — racing in his own backyard, at elevations pushing 9,000 feet — started conservatively, sitting 16th among the men early on. From there he methodically picked off competitors, moving to 4th, then holding, then surging again to reach 2nd among men by the finish. His 14:03/mi average across a full century at altitude tells the story of a runner who never blew up — and his 2nd-fastest split on the Bull Wheel 3→Tunnel Creek 3 stretch shows he still had punch deep into the race.

Derek Schultz made his move where it mattered most. The 48-year-old from Pottstown, PA, ran the fastest second-half split among the men — a remarkable display of back-end strength over a course where most athletes are simply trying to hold on. He climbed from 25th among men to 5th, finishing in 23:37:33 at 14:11/mi, just 12 minutes and 40 seconds behind Kivi. That gap is real, but so is the comeback: Schultz was running faster when it counted.

Bryan Botma (25:03:08) came out of the gates swinging — the 40-year-old from Watsonville posted the 3rd-fastest first-half split among the men and sat 3rd among men at the midpoint. The back half cost him some ground, sliding to 7th among men before steadying to finish 3rd in M40-49. Andrey Vyrvich (25:43:28) rounded out the top four with a patient build, starting 44th among men and climbing steadily to finish 8th among men overall. Andrew Komp (26:09:14) completed the top five in M40-49 at 15:42/mi, contributing the 8th-fastest Tunnel Creek→Bull Wheel split among the men on his way to 10th in the men's field.