M0-14: Kanagaraj edges Clemans in a 14-year-old duel at the top

• Ishaan Kanagaraj won the M0-14 age group in 35:21 (5:41/mi), holding off Spencer Clemans by just 5 seconds.
• Both leaders ran sub-5:45 pace through 93°F heat — the two fastest times in the group were separated by less than the blink of a race clock.
• Calvin Johnson, just 12 years old, was the youngest finisher in the listed field and cracked the top 10 with a 48:30 — impressive given the age gap on his competitors.
• A wide spread defined the group: the 24-finisher field ranged from Kanagaraj's 35:21 down to times north of an hour, a span of more than 30 minutes.

Racing in 93°F heat in Boston, the M0-14 age group sent 24 boys to the line — and the story at the front was as tight as it gets. Ishaan Kanagaraj of Belmont, 14, crossed in 35:21 at 5:41/mi to claim the win. Right behind him, fellow 14-year-old Spencer Clemans of Concord, NH finished in 35:26 — five seconds back, running 5:42/mi. Both were trading positions through the race's middle stretch, and neither gave an inch until the very end.

Third place went to Seamus Collins, 13, of Dorchester, who came in at 42:38 — a solid 6:52/mi effort that left a 7-minute gap to the top two but a comfortable cushion over the rest of the field. Rohan Bhide (45:36) and Samuel Morel (46:53) rounded out the top five, both 13-year-olds running in the 7:20–7:33/mi range and separated by just 77 seconds.

One of the more compelling storylines came from Calvin Johnson of Proctorsville, VT — at just 12, the youngest in the listed group — who finished 8th in 48:30. Running 7:48/mi on a hot June day in Boston, he outpaced several 14-year-olds to land inside the top ten. Beyond the top 10, the field stretched out across a wide range of paces, with times climbing past the hour mark for the back half of the group — a reminder that in the M0-14 age group, every finisher crossing the line in this heat deserves credit for the effort.