M35-39: Ayano Turns San Francisco's 10K Into a Solo Time Trial

• Gudisa Ayano, 37, wins in 32:28 — a 5:14/mi pace that put him 6 minutes and 23 seconds clear of 2nd place.
• Tim Tkachenko (38:51) and Daniel Abera (41:15) rounded out the podium, with a further 1:45 separating 2nd from 3rd.
• Simon Wing (42:00) and Bayisa Feye (42:56) were the closest battle in the top five, separated by just 56 seconds across 4th and 5th.
• 155 men aged 35–39 toed the line in San Francisco's cool, damp morning — 55°F and 93% humidity hugging the city's familiar grey.

Gudisa Ayano didn't race the M35-39 field on Sunday — he lapped it in spirit. His 32:28 finish at 5:14 per mile was in a different universe from everyone else on the start list. By the time Tim Tkachenko crossed in 38:51, Ayano had already been done for over six minutes. That margin — 6:23 — wasn't a gap so much as a statement.

Tkachenko held 2nd comfortably, finishing nearly two and a half minutes ahead of Daniel Abera's 41:15 in 3rd. Abera, in turn, kept Simon Wing (42:00) at arm's length, with Wing edging out Bayisa Feye (42:56) for 4th in the day's tightest top-five duel. That 56-second spread between 4th and 5th was where the real racing happened near the front.

The battle for the 6-through-10 spots was equally tight. Michael Zapata (43:28), Melvin Yumang (43:56), Cédric Rossi (44:32), Ivan Fernandez De Jauregui (44:59), and Sayat Satybaldiyev (45:06) were packed into a 1:38 window — five men trading ground across the course's hills and turns. Jordan Herren (45:08) and Kabeer Manchanda (45:10) followed just two seconds apart in 11th and 12th, nearly inseparable at the line.

Further back, the field spread out through the 46- and 47-minute range, with Mathieu Dardenne (46:24), Joon Kim (47:04), Trever Mccanless (47:13), Florian Mezger (47:29), and Gino Chiarella Cano (47:57) closing out the listed finishers across the city's fog-cooled streets. All 155 men in this group left their mark on the Embarcadero — but it was Ayano's 32:28 that defined the morning.