M35-39: Nathan Martin Dominates in the Heat

• Nathan Martin, 45:17 (4:52/mi): Won the M35-39 field and climbed to 8th among all men — an 8:36 gap back to the 2025 course record pace, but a commanding margin over his nearest competitor.
• Gap at the top: Martin finished 8:36 ahead of runner-up Steve Esposito (53:53) — the largest winning margin in the listed top 20 by far.
• Tight mid-pack battle: Matt Halliday and Jeffrey Olney both crossed in 56:42 (6:05/mi), with place deciding the finish order; Michael Hoover and Ryan Poley-Baier did the same at 59:06 (6:20/mi).
• 670 finishers took on 75°F heat and 90% humidity across the M35-39 field — a deep, hard-fought group from start to finish.

Nathan Martin made the M35-39 race his own from the opening miles. Running a 4:52/mi average, the 35-year-old from Jackson, MI steadily worked his way through the men's field — moving from 10th among men at the 5K checkpoint to 9th at 10K and ultimately 8th by the finish line. That kind of sustained forward momentum over 15 kilometers in thick, humid air is a story in itself. He also posted the 7th-fastest split among all women on the 10K-to-finish stretch — a measure of just how strong his closing leg was.

Behind Martin, the race for 2nd through 5th played out with genuine urgency. Steve Esposito (53:53) held 2nd, but not without pressure: Vincent Aceto of Schenectady (54:21) and John Kelley of Syracuse (54:34) were both closing hard in the final segment. Kelley, notably, ran the 66th-fastest split among women on the 5K-to-10K leg and moved from 86th to 70th among men overall by the finish — one of the more determined surges in the field. Garrett Burger (55:05) rounded out the top five, with Jordan Brouk (55:31) and Jonathan Lindenauer (55:41) not far behind.

The mid-pack produced a pair of genuine photo-finish moments. Matt Halliday (Skaneateles, NY) and Jeffrey Olney (Camden, ME) both clocked 56:42 at 6:05/mi — place separating them where the clock could not. The same script repeated further back: Michael Hoover (Clinton, NY) and Ryan Poley-Baier (Clay, NY) both finished in 59:06 at 6:20/mi. In a 670-person field on a muggy Utica morning, those razor-thin margins were hard-earned.