M25-29: Huffman dominates a 68-man Cleveland 5K field

• Oliver Huffman won the M25-29 age group in 17:29 (5:38/mi) — more than 33 seconds clear of second place in a 68-man field.
• Noah Berko ran a strong second in 18:02 (5:48/mi), with the top two well separated from the rest of the field.
• Third through fifth were tightly bunched: Pete Adkins (21:17), Keenan Burgess (21:23), and Akshath Venkataraman (21:49) — a span of just 32 seconds across three spots.
• The gap between second and third was a striking 3 minutes and 15 seconds, making the top two a race of their own.

Oliver Huffman made this one look clean. The 27-year-old from Stow crossed in 17:29 at 5:38 per mile — a pace that put him in a different conversation from the rest of the M25-29 field on a humid, breezy Cleveland morning. With 83% humidity and a 15 mph wind off the lake, holding sub-5:40 pace is no small thing, and Huffman did it without a challenger in sight.

Noah Berko of Solon gave chase and earned a genuine second-place finish in 18:02, running 5:48 per mile. That's a solid effort in its own right, but the 33-second gap to Huffman tells the real story — this wasn't a race that came down to the wire at the front. Berko's younger brother Ian also made the field, finishing 15th in 26:57, making it a family affair in the M25-29 group.

Behind the top two, the real racing happened in a tight cluster from third through fifth. Pete Adkins (21:17), Keenan Burgess (21:23), and Akshath Venkataraman (21:49) were separated by just 32 seconds — any of those three could have swapped spots with a slight shift in effort. Malik Gulley (22:14) and Joe Mertens (23:00) kept the pressure on through the top seven, rounding out a competitive mid-pack chase in difficult conditions.