M35-39 at CIM 2024: Schroy holds off Batch in a sub-2:26 thriller

• Brian Schroy wins M35-39 in 2:25:06 (5:32/mi), the fastest in the age group by 13 seconds over Ian Batch's 2:25:19.
• Top-5 compression: just 1:45 separates Schroy from James Timphony in 5th — five men under 2:27 in a field of 911.
• Batch's mid-race surge was the race's most dramatic move: he entered the 30K checkpoint 92nd among men, then climbed to 61st by 40K before settling 2nd in M35-39.
• James Timphony's late charge was the most aggressive finishing kick in the top five, moving from 127th among men at 10K all the way to 77th by the finish.

Brian Schroy of Boulder crossed in 2:25:06 at 5:32/mi to claim the M35-39 title, but he had to earn every second of it. Ian Batch of Vancouver, WA was breathing down his neck the entire final stretch, finishing just 13 seconds back in 2:25:19. Schroy's strongest segment came between 35K and 40K, where he posted the 52nd-fastest split in the men's field on that stretch — enough to keep Batch, who ran the 55th-fastest 30K–35K split in the men's field, at bay.

The battle for third through fifth was its own compelling subplot. Jeremy Arthur (2:26:27) held off Lionel Montenegro (2:26:43) and James Timphony (2:26:51) in a window of just 24 seconds. Montenegro was the steadiest of the group, barely moving in the men's standings from start to finish — he ran 72nd among men at 10K and finished 74th, a model of even execution. Timphony took the opposite approach: he was 127th among men at 10K and spent the entire race hunting people down, ultimately finishing 77th — a gain of 50 places across the field.

Andy Schweitzer (2:27:33) and Michael Horn (2:28:01) rounded out the top seven, with Horn's 2:28:01 representing the last sub-2:29 of the day in M35-39. Behind them, Aaron Sherf and Jimmy Mccue ran nearly identical races — 2:30:00 and 2:30:05 — to claim 8th and 9th. In a group of 911 finishers, the depth was real: the gap from 1st to 20th was just over 10 minutes, and every man in the top 20 broke 2:36.