Masters Men at CIM 2025: Trujillo Runs Away with It

• Esteban Trujillo, 40, wins Masters Men in 2:14:29 (5:08/mi) — a margin of 4 minutes 12 seconds over runner-up Jesse Davis.
• Trujillo's surge from 30K to 35K was the 23rd-fastest split across the men's field on that segment — the moment he decisively pulled clear.
• Scott Lankford, 42, held off Chikara Omine, 43, by just 27 seconds for third — the tightest gap on the podium.
• Aki Nummela, 40, ran the 56th-fastest split in the men's field from 40K to the finish, but it wasn't enough to close a 2-minute deficit to Lankford.

Cool, damp Sacramento morning conditions — 46°F, overcast, barely a breath of wind — set the table for fast times, and Esteban Trujillo of Fort Collins made full use of it. He crossed in 2:14:29, a pace of 5:08 per mile that left the rest of the Masters Men field well behind. His race wasn't a front-to-back runaway, either: he entered the men's field at 71st through 15K, steadily climbing to 65th, then 61st, then 56th by 25K. But it was the 30K–35K stretch — where he posted the 23rd-fastest split among the men — that cracked the race open. By the finish he had risen to 32nd in the men's field, a position he held from 35K onward, meaning no one caught him once he made his move.

Jesse Davis of Omaha ran a measured, consistent race to claim second in 2:18:41. His splits were remarkably even — he moved from 84th in the men's field at 15K to 72nd at the finish, a steady, unspectacular climb that earned him the runner-up spot by a comfortable margin. The battle for third was far more dramatic: Scott Lankford (2:20:52) and Chikara Omine (2:21:19) were separated by just 27 seconds after 26.2 miles. Lankford, from Simi Valley, sealed it with the 64th-fastest men's split from 35K to 40K — a late push that Omine, despite running a strong 30K–35K segment himself, could not answer.

Fifth place went to Aki Nummela, representing Vantaa, Finland, in 2:23:24. He actually faded slightly through the middle miles — dropping from 95th in the men's field at 15K to 122nd by 35K — before rallying with the 56th-fastest men's split over the final 2.2K. It was a strong finish, but the gap to Lankford was already too large to bridge. Behind the top five, a deep field of 2,124 Masters Men finishers filled out the results, with the top 20 all breaking 2:37 on a morning built for fast running.