M1-19 at California International Marathon: Max Baeder Leads a Remarkable Teen Field

• Max Baeder, 19, wins in 2:30:24 — a 5:44/mi average that stood clear of the field by more than three minutes.
• Axton Fosnaugh, 18, runs 2:33:37 to claim second, posting one of the stronger closing stretches in the group with the 122nd-fastest split in the field on the 35K–40K segment.
• Third vs. fourth decided by two seconds: Mario Montoya (15) and Jonah Thiele (19) both crossed in 6:13/mi pace, finishing 2:42:48 and 2:42:50 — Montoya edging Thiele by the slimmest of margins.
• Montoya's age is the real headline: a 15-year-old running 2:42:48 at California International, finishing 3rd among 47 under-19 boys.

Max Baeder came in and never let the race come to him. His moves tell the story of a runner who started conservatively and then tightened the screws: he sat around 94th among men in the early going, drifted back slightly through the middle miles, then steadily reeled runners in over the final stretch. His 5:44/mi pace over 26.2 miles on a cool December morning in Sacramento was the class of the M1-19 field from wire to wire.

Axton Fosnaugh from Wapakoneta, Ohio made his presence felt in the second half. After running in the 160s–190s among men through the early checkpoints, he mounted a sustained charge — moving from 190th to 146th among men across the final two segments — and his 35K–40K split ranked 122nd in the entire field. That kind of late-race acceleration is exactly what separates a good marathon from a great one, and Fosnaugh's 2:33:41 earned him a clear second place.

The battle for third was settled by a ticking clock and very little else. Mario Montoya, just 15 years old from Redondo Beach, held off 19-year-old Jonah Thiele by two seconds — 2:42:48 to 2:42:50 — after Montoya ran a strong closing segment (158th-fastest split in the field from 40K to the finish). Thiele, meanwhile, had been the stronger runner between 30K and 35K, but couldn't quite close the gap when it mattered. Montoya's result at 15 is simply exceptional.

Josh Hooey (2:47:46) and Nick Dudek (2:48:52) rounded out the top five and six, separated by just over a minute, with Hooey showing a strong 30K–35K segment. Further back, 14-year-old Ishaan Kanagaraj from Belmont finished 9th in 3:00:55 — another teenager well ahead of where most people his age have any business being in a marathon field of 47 under-19 boys.