Fort Ord 25K Boys Under-18: Rylan Foster Dominates at 13

• Rylan Foster won the under-18 boys race in 2:19:50 (9:00/mi), finishing more than 10 minutes clear of second place.
• Jacob Ramirez held off Branson Bullian for second, with a gap of just over 9 minutes separating them at the line.
• Bullian, 14, was the story of the middle race — running in 6th among the men early before fading to 24th by the finish.
• Thomas Mantha rounded out the four-man field in 3:03:12, nearly 44 minutes behind Foster.

Four boys lined up for the Fort Ord 25K under-18 field on a cool, humid February morning in Monterey, and 13-year-old Rylan Foster from Santa Cruz made the outcome look almost inevitable. Running a 9:00/mi pace across the rugged Fort Ord terrain, Foster crossed in 2:19:50 — a full ten minutes and three seconds ahead of second-place Jacob Ramirez. For a 13-year-old to clock that kind of time and hold it through the Toro Creek stretch, where he posted the 9th-fastest split among the men on that closing segment, is a performance that demands attention.

Ramirez, 16, from Seaside, ran a composed race at 9:39/mi to claim second in 2:29:53. He was steadily climbing through the men's field on the Skyline-to-Toro Creek segment before settling into 16th among the men at the finish — a solid, controlled effort. Just behind him, Branson Bullian told a different story: the 14-year-old from Santa Cruz was flying early, sitting 6th among the men after the opening segment, but the back half of the course took its toll and he faded to 24th by the finish, crossing in 2:39:00. The gap from Ramirez to Bullian — just over nine minutes — reflects how much ground Bullian lost in that second half.

Thomas Mantha, 16, from Pleasanton, completed the field in 3:03:12 at 11:48/mi, finishing 44 minutes back from Foster. His trajectory told a similar story to Bullian's — 11th among the men early, 50th by the end — suggesting the course's second half was unforgiving for the under-18 runners today.