Boilermaker 5K M35-39: Taafel Dominates in the Humidity

• James Taafel (1st, 17:18) won the M35-39 race at a 5:34/mi clip — a full 1:40 ahead of runner-up Eric White (18:58, 6:06/mi).
• Eric White and Derek Therrien-Bryant (3rd, 21:24) were separated by 2:26 — but both finished well clear of the pack chasing them.
• Danny Colwell and Richard Vanwieren both crossed in 26:05, but the timing chips split them into 12th and 13th place respectively.
• 127 men finished in the M35-39 field, with the top 20 ranging from 17:18 down to 27:47.

James Taafel made the trip from Front Royal, VA, and made it count. His 17:18 — a 5:34/mi average through 75°F heat and 90% humidity — was a performance that simply ran away from the field. By the time Eric White of New Hartford crossed in 18:58, Taafel had been done for a minute and forty seconds. In conditions that make fast times hard to come by, that kind of margin is a statement.

White held second comfortably, running a 6:06/mi pace that was clearly a step ahead of the rest of the podium. Derek Therrien-Bryant, racing on home turf in Utica, secured third in 21:24 (6:53/mi) — a solid result, though the gap back to White was substantial. Rafael Morales (4th, 22:57) and Josh Stoetzel (5th, 23:52) rounded out the top five, with Stoetzel and sixth-place Cory White (24:21) separated by just 29 seconds in a tight battle for position.

The mid-pack produced its own drama. Thomas Karam (7th, 25:12) led a dense cluster of runners, with Dale Fellows (8th, 25:41), Eric Brownsell (9th, 25:45), and Neal Bartlett (10th, 25:53) all finishing within 12 seconds of each other. Then came a remarkable stretch: Jeremy Boyce (11th, 26:03), Danny Colwell (12th, 26:05), Richard Vanwieren (13th, 26:05), and Alan Conte (14th, 26:08) — four runners packed into five seconds. The timing system had to work overtime to sort that one out.