Masters Men: Huculak Surges to the Front and Never Looks Back

• Kramer Huculak won the Masters Men race in 46:11 (7:26/mi), posting the fastest split in the field on the 5K→8K stretch.
• Shawn Bertrand held the early lead before Huculak moved through, finishing 2nd in 48:05 — a gap of 1:54.
• Yonatan Quezada ran a steady race from start to finish, holding 3rd throughout and crossing in 50:04.

In a small but competitive Masters Men field of three, the race had a clear narrative arc. Shawn Bertrand — the veteran from Mont Vernon, NH — set the early pace and led out of the gate, with Kramer Huculak sitting just behind in 2nd. Through the opening 5K, Bertrand controlled the race while Huculak bided his time.

The decisive moment came on the 5K→8K segment, where Huculak unleashed the fastest split in the field on that stretch, moving from 2nd to 1st and putting real daylight between himself and Bertrand. Running at a 7:26-per-mile clip across a 93°F afternoon in Boston — the kind of heat that turns the final kilometers into a war of attrition — that surge was the race-winning move. Once Huculak hit the front, he never relinquished it, holding on to claim the Masters Men title.

Bertrand's 2nd-fastest 5K→8K split of the three showed he wasn't simply fading — Huculak just had more on that stretch. A 1:54 final gap reflects how cleanly the race was decided once Huculak made his move. Quezada, 43, ran his own race entirely, sitting 3rd from the opening gun through the finish tape and closing in 50:04 at 8:03 per mile — a composed effort in genuinely brutal conditions.