M20-29 at Way Too Cool 50K: Riedel Dominates from Gun to Tape

• Sean Riedel (27, Santa Cruz) won the M20-29 group in 3:37:18 — a 6:60/mi average — and led the men's field wire-to-wire, never relinquishing the top spot across all six checkpoints.
• Riedel posted the fastest split on the Fire Station→Quarry segment among all men, punctuating a dominant, front-to-back performance.
• Jayson Hefner (27, Fairfield) was a clear and steady second, finishing in 3:55:31 — 18:13 back — and delivered the 6th-fastest men's split on the ALT→Goat Hill segment.
• The back half of the field spread dramatically: from Nick Muzik's 4:28:03 in 3rd to Derek Sivillo's 7:44:54 in 13th, a gap of over three hours across 11 finishers.

Sean Riedel made this one look controlled from the opening miles. He sat atop the men's field at every single checkpoint — 1st through 1st, start to finish — and backed that positional dominance with the fastest men's split on the Fire Station→Quarry segment. At a 6:60/mi average across 31 miles of Cool's technical terrain, this was a performance that left no doubt about who owned the M20-29 group on the day.

Jayson Hefner was equally consistent in his own right, holding 5th in the men's field through the first checkpoint before settling into 6th and staying there all the way to the line. His 3:55:31 at 7:35/mi — a noticeably more measured pace than Riedel's — secured a comfortable second-place finish in the age group, and his 6th-fastest men's split on ALT→Goat Hill showed he was still running with purpose deep into the course.

Behind the top two, Nick Muzik (29, Reno) made a notable late move, climbing from 17th in the men's field at HWY 49 up to 13th by the finish, crossing in 4:28:03 for 3rd in the age group. Christian Klahn (29, Garden Valley) rounded out the podium in 4:44:23, posting the 14th-fastest men's split on the HWY 49→Finish stretch. Nate Challis (28, SF) was 5th in 5:26:48, with Angel Rizo, Joseph Shanahan, and the remaining seven finishers spread across a wide range of times — Derek Sivillo (29, Auburn) completing the 13-man group in 7:44:54 at 14:58/mi.