M45-49 at CIM 2024: Folch Runs Away from a Deep Field

• Tomas Folch wins in 2:33:46 (5:52/mi), finishing 2 minutes 45 seconds clear of runner-up David Liebowitz in a 529-man M45-49 field.
• Folch's late surge was decisive: he climbed from 225th among men at the opening checkpoint all the way to 150th by the finish, including the 94th-fastest 35K–40K split in the men's field.
• Justin Kerr and Jesse Williams staged the day's most dramatic charge: both started well outside the top 300 among men before rocketing to 235th and 237th respectively, each posting a top-100 40K-to-finish split among men.
• Positions 3–5 were separated by just 29 seconds: Ben Gall (2:38:13), Justin Kerr (2:38:39), and Jesse Williams (2:38:42) fought for the final podium spots across the last 10 kilometers.

Tomas Folch, 46, from Santiago, put together the kind of race that looks effortless only in hindsight. Running 5:52 per mile across 26.2 miles, he built steadily through the field — passing through checkpoints at 212th, 207th, 194th, and then 158th among men — before sealing the win with a strong 35K–40K segment. His 2:33:46 stands comfortably clear of the rest of the M45-49 field and reflects genuine front-of-pack speed on a mild Sacramento morning.

David Liebowitz of Eugene followed a similar trajectory, moving from 315th among men at the first checkpoint all the way to 198th by the finish. His 2:36:31 (5:58/mi) earned him a well-deserved second place, though the gap to Folch — nearly three minutes — tells the story of a winner who was simply in another gear.

The real drama unfolded in the battle for third through fifth. Ben Gall, 45, from Boise, ran a strong early race — posting the 178th-fastest 15K–20K split among men — but faded slightly over the final miles, slipping from 186th to 225th among men in that stretch. That opened the door for Kerr and Williams, who both ran the opposite race entirely. Kerr (2:38:39) and Williams (2:38:42) were still buried in the pack past 40K, then unleashed two of the strongest closing splits in the men's field — 91st and 103rd fastest respectively from 40K to the finish — to nearly run down Gall. Three seconds separated Kerr from Williams at the line, and just 26 more stood between Williams and the podium.