M30-39: Mike B edges Chris Dakessian by 25 seconds in a tight battle for the age-group crown

• Mike B wins in 5:36:23 (13:27/mi), holding off Chris Dakessian by just 25 seconds after a strong closing surge on the Rattlesnake Bar→Last Gasp segment.
• Chris Dakessian's early charge: Dakessian ran as high as 5th among men before fading to 13th — the most dramatic position swing in the M30-39 group.
• Michael Tredick and Timothy Nuss finished 6th and 7th in the age group separated by just 23 seconds (6:11:32 vs. 6:11:55), the tightest gap on the rest of the leaderboard.
• Garrett Ramos completed the full 25 miles in 8:03:17 — nearly 2.5 hours behind the winner, a reminder of how wide the M30-39 field spread across a warm, clear April day in Auburn.

The headline of the M30-39 race is a 25-second thriller at the top. Mike B, 35, of Rockford, MI, came home in 5:36:23, but he had to earn it. His path to the win was a steady climb through the men's field — moving from 24th among men early on all the way to 12th by the finish — and his 8th-fastest split on the Rattlesnake Bar→Last Gasp segment was the decisive move that sealed it. Chris Dakessian, also 35 and racing in his backyard of Fair Oaks, CA, posted the 5th-fastest split among men on the Granite Bay→Rattlesnake Bar leg and looked like a serious contender, but he couldn't hold the pace over the final stretch and crossed in 5:36:48.

Christian Rozo rounded out the podium in 5:44:59, a comfortable 8-minute gap back from Dakessian, while Jesus Contreras in 4th (5:56:44) showed the early promise of a top-10 men's position before fading through the second half. Jake Wittman kept it together late — his 14th-fastest split among men on the Last Gasp→Finish segment helped him secure 5th in 6:08:18 on a day where 73°F temperatures and full sun made holding form over the final miles genuinely difficult.

The back half of the M30-39 field told a different story. Tredick and Nuss — both 30 years old, both from the Sacramento area — ran essentially the same race, finishing 6th and 7th just 23 seconds apart. Gregory Cecil, racing at home in Auburn, came in 8th, followed by Richard Patriquin and Garrett Ramos to round out all ten finishers. Every one of them covered 25 miles of American River trail on a warm spring morning, which is worth something on its own.