M20-24 Half Marathon: Brignall Dominates in Cleveland Heat

• Hunter Brignall, 24, ran 1:08:49 (5:15/mi) — a margin of 3:21 over 2nd place, the largest gap between any two consecutive podium finishers in the M20-24 group.
• Nate Bertman made the day's most dramatic move, climbing from 11th among men at the first checkpoint all the way to 5th by the finish — and posting the fastest closing split from 12.6 miles to the line in the entire men's field.
• Josh Baker surged mid-race, moving from 6th among men after the opening stretch to 3rd by 10K and holding that position to the tape in 1:12:10.
• Brock Denuyl and Nate Bertman finished 3rd and 4th just two seconds apart — 1:13:45 to 1:13:47 — the tightest battle on the M20-24 podium.

With 75°F heat and 68% humidity pressing down on Cleveland, the M20-24 group had 217 finishers toe the line — and Hunter Brignall made the conditions look irrelevant. The 24-year-old from Seneca Falls led among men from the very first checkpoint and never relinquished it, crossing in 1:08:49 at a 5:15-per-mile clip. His 5K–10K split was the fastest in the men's field on that segment, a sign that he didn't wait for the race to come to him. By the finish, his 3:21 cushion over Josh Baker was less a race than a statement.

Behind Brignall, Baker (1:12:10, 5:30/mi) was the story of the middle miles, vaulting from 6th to 3rd between the gun and the 10K mark and staying locked in there the rest of the way. Brock Denuyl, also 22, shadowed him home in 1:13:45 — good for 3rd — but the real late drama belonged to Nate Bertman. The 23-year-old from Chagrin Falls was 11th among men early on, methodically worked his way into the top five, and then unleashed the fastest closing split in the men's field from 12.6 miles to the finish to seal 4th in 1:13:47. Two seconds separated him from Denuyl — a margin that would have flipped the podium on a different day.

Thomas Nelson, the youngest man in the top five at 20, rounded out the lead pack in 1:14:57, while Bryce Weber (1:15:47) and Calvin Mcelvain (1:16:34) gave the M20-24 group a deep, competitive top seven before the field spread out considerably — 8th-place Josh Bohurjak clocking 1:22:06, nearly six minutes back.