M20-24 at Cleveland: Nicholls runs down the field to claim the age group

• Lance Nicholls wins in 2:42:22 (6:12/mi), the fastest time in the M20-24 group among 209 finishers.
• Andrew Goldslager held 2nd through most of the race and finished 99 seconds back at 2:44:01; Logan Clark rounded out the podium at 2:45:53.
• Seth Macura posted the 9th-fastest 5K→10K split in the men's field and ran in the top 10 among men through the halfway mark before fading to 4th in M20-24 by the finish.
• Zachary Forristal matched Macura's 6:26/mi average to finish 4th and 5th separated by just 15 seconds — the tightest gap on the podium.

In warm, humid conditions — 75°F and 68% humidity by race time — Lance Nicholls of Pittsburgh made his move exactly when it mattered most. He ran the first half of the race sitting 28th among men, steady but unremarkable. Then came the back half: he climbed from 24th to 17th to 15th, and cracked the top 10 among men before the tape. His closing leg (22.5M to the finish) was the 4th-fastest of that segment in the men's field — a punishing stretch in the heat where most runners are fading, not flying. He crossed in 2:42:22, a 6:12/mi average that stood as the M20-24 benchmark on the day.

Andrew Goldslager of Hudson, OH had the opposite arc. He was blazing early — 6th among men at the first checkpoint and posting the 12th-fastest first-half split in the men's field — but the back half cost him. He slipped from 7th to 9th and eventually 14th among men by the finish, settling for 2nd in M20-24 at 2:44:01. Logan Clark of Hickory, NC mirrored Nicholls's late surge, moving from 33rd among men at halfway all the way to 16th by the finish with the 5th-fastest closing leg in the men's field, good enough for 3rd at 2:45:53.

Behind the podium, Seth Macura and Zachary Forristal both clocked 6:26/mi averages and finished within 15 seconds of each other — 2:48:38 and 2:48:53 — for 4th and 5th respectively. Macura had been the more aggressive early runner, cracking the top 10 among men before halfway, but couldn't sustain it through the Cleveland heat. The rest of the top 10 was tightly bunched, with 6th through 10th all finishing between 2:51 and 2:58.