Long Beach Marathon M45-49: Saldaña Runs Away from a Deep SoCal Field

• Juan Pablo Saldaña (47, Los Angeles) wins in 2:47:40 — a 6:24/mi average that left the field in his wake by nearly 15 minutes.
• Tightest battle of the day: Carmelo Espinoza (5th, 3:09:07) and Sumet Tungchoothongchai (6th, 3:09:35) were separated by just 28 seconds at the line.
• Places 16 and 17 — Erik Arroyo-Robles and Victor Claveria — finished in 3:24:50 and 3:24:51, one second apart after 26.2 miles.
• 197 finishers completed the M45-49 race on a warm, humid Long Beach morning (72°F, 73% humidity).

Juan Pablo Saldaña, 47, turned in the kind of performance that makes a result look almost unfair on paper. His 2:47:40 — 6:24 per mile for the full 26.2 — stood 14 minutes and 36 seconds clear of second place. His race unfolded with real tactical movement: he ran as high as 20th among men at one point, climbed back to 20th by the finish after dipping to 27th mid-race, and posted the 30th-fastest second-half split among the women's field — a strong closing effort that underlined just how controlled his day was.

Behind him, Melchicedec Palacios (45, Long Beach) earned second in 3:02:16 at 6:57/mi, while Pedro Fernandez (48, Los Angeles) was just 76 seconds back in third at 3:03:32 and 7:00/mi. Fernandez ran a notably progressive race — moving from 154th among men at the first checkpoint all the way to 111th by the finish, picking off runners steadily across the second half. Palacios, by contrast, surged hard through the early middle miles before fading somewhat, dropping from 41st among men to 134th before recovering to 106th — a reminder that the Long Beach course, combined with the morning heat, punishes front-loaded efforts.

The battle for fourth and fifth was close and hard-fought. Rigoberto Contreras (47, South Gate) finished 4th in 3:08:39, with Carmelo Espinoza (46, Santa Ana) just 28 seconds behind in 3:09:07. Espinoza ran a strong closing stretch — his 142nd-fastest 20M-to-finish split among women showed he was still moving well late — but Contreras had enough of a cushion to hold on. Sumet Tungchoothongchai (49, Gardena) rounded out the top six in 3:09:35, just 28 seconds behind Espinoza.

Further down, the race delivered one of its most striking finishes: Erik Arroyo-Robles (46, Costa Mesa) and Victor Claveria (45, Santa Ana) crossed in 3:24:50 and 3:24:51 respectively — one second separating them after more than three hours of racing. In a field of 197, those are the moments that remind you why the stopwatch matters all the way to the end.