M1-29: Zingelman storms from the back to claim the age group

• Caleb Zingelman won the M1-29 age group in 3:59:37 (9:09/mi), the only finisher to break four hours.
• Rogelio Del Rio led the men's field for the first four legs before fading to 5th among men overall, finishing 2nd in M1-29 in 4:09:57 — a gap of 10:20 to Zingelman.
• Zingelman's charge was built on the back half: he entered the final stretch ranked 3rd among men, then posted the fastest men's split on Lap 4 to the finish to seal it.
• Charlie Vanness, at just 17, finished 4th in the age group in 5:24:54 — the youngest finisher in the group.

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Rogelio Del Rio looked like the man to beat for most of this race. The Sacramento native held 1st among men from the opening leg all the way through Lap 4, running a composed 9:32/mi pace and posting the fastest men's split on the Out & Back through Lap 1. With wet roads, a 14 mph wind, and temperatures hovering at 51°F, holding that front position for so long was no small feat.

But Caleb Zingelman had other plans. Starting the race back in 8th among men, the 29-year-old from Orangevale spent the early legs quietly climbing — 4th, 5th, 4th, 3rd — before delivering the decisive blow on the final Lap 4 to finish segment, where he posted the fastest men's split of the race. He crossed the line in 3:59:37, the only man in the M1-29 group to crack four hours, and finished 1st among men overall. Del Rio, who had led for so long, slipped to 5th among men in those final miles and settled for 2nd in the age group, 10 minutes and 20 seconds back.

Cayden Fischbach of Roseville ran a solid early race — 2nd among men through the first two legs and the second-fastest men's split on the Out & Back — but faded to 7th among men by the finish, taking 3rd in the age group in 4:36:26. Behind him, 17-year-old Charlie Vanness from Granite Bay was the youngest in the group and gutted out a 5:24:54 to claim 4th, while Harrison Gullotto and Angelo Payavala rounded out the six-man field.