Men's Triple Crown: Pratt leads wire to wire for a commanding title

• Andrew Pratt (Boulder, CO, age 30) won in 7:24:56 — more than 21 minutes clear of 2nd place Michael Mitchell.
• Pratt held the cumulative lead after every single leg: Ascent, 46K, and 23K.
• The closest battle on the day was for 5th: Christopher Kirk (8:41:29) and Jason Harcum (8:41:36) were separated by just seven seconds across nearly nine hours of racing.
• Rob Houghton of Murphys, CA, at age 69, was the oldest finisher in the men's field — completing all three legs in 11:15:39.

Andrew Pratt was never headed. He clocked the fastest Ascent among the top three (44:49, 35th among all men on that leg), then turned in an 11th-place 46K split of 4:30:51 — the engine that truly separated him from the field. His 23K was 39th on that leg, a relative easing off, but by then the race was already decided. From first checkpoint to finish line, no one got close.

Michael Mitchell (Buena Vista, CO, age 27) held off Carter Shae (Leavenworth, WA, age 36) for 2nd in 7:46:24, with Shae crossing in 7:55:41 — a gap of just over nine minutes between them, but both well adrift of Pratt. Kameron Harder (Flagstaff, AZ) rounded out the top four in 8:11:03, never threatening the podium but running a steady race across all three legs.

The race's most dramatic near-miss came just outside the top five. Jason Harcum (Benicia, CA, age 43) ran a strong 46K — 30th on that leg — but his 23K unraveled to 95th on the segment, opening the door for Christopher Kirk (Eagle River, AK, age 28). Kirk crossed in 8:41:29; Harcum followed in 8:41:36. Seven seconds after nearly nine hours of mountain racing. Kirk takes 5th, Harcum 6th.

Darren Partyka (Sparks, NV) deserves a footnote: his Ascent leg placed 333rd in the field — by far the slowest among men's finishers on that segment — yet he salvaged a 60th-place 46K (5:54:53) and a 126th-place 23K (2:48:53) to finish 30th overall among the men in 11:09:55. At the other end of the longevity spectrum, 69-year-old Rob Houghton completed the full Triple Crown in 11:15:39, finishing 32nd among the men and logging a 23K leg of 3:25:52 to close it out.