Masters Men: Sam Ives Runs Down the Field to Claim Twin Cities Glory

• Sam Ives, 46, wins in 2:33:12 (5:51/mi), pulling from 34th among men at the halfway point all the way to 31st by 40K — a patient, relentless march to the front.
• Anthony Fryer closes hard: the Eden Prairie 49-year-old finishes 2nd in 2:41:42, posting the 44th-fastest men's split from 40K to the finish — a strong late surge that secured the runner-up spot.
• Michael Rudolph and Nathaniel Scott separated by just 14 seconds (2:44:27 vs. 2:44:41) for 3rd and 4th — Rudolph ran the 56th-fastest second-half split among all men to close the gap, while Scott had surged earlier and held on.
• Kevin Zanker, 59, places 9th in 2:50:28 — the oldest finisher in the top ten and one of the most impressive performances in a field of 1,488.

Brisk and breezy along the Chain of Lakes — 52°F with a 21 mph wind — the Masters Men's race at the 2024 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon belonged to Sam Ives from start to finish, even if the clock didn't confirm it until the final miles. The 46-year-old Minneapolis local ran a composed, building effort: sitting 34th among men at the gun and drifting no further than 36th before methodically climbing back. By the 35K–40K stretch, he was posting the 24th-fastest men's split in the entire field on that segment, and he crossed the line in 2:33:12 at 5:51 per mile — a commanding win by more than eight minutes over his nearest Masters rival.

Anthony Fryer, 49, from Eden Prairie ran a different kind of race — one that came alive in the final 2.2 kilometers. His 44th-fastest men's split from 40K to the finish tells the story: he was moving when others were fading, and his 2:41:42 locked up second place with authority. Behind him, the battle for third was the race's most compelling subplot. Michael Rudolph, 40, of Circle Pines used the second half as his weapon — the 56th-fastest men's second-half split in the field — to reel in ground and finish 3rd in 2:44:27. Nathaniel Scott, 43, had actually been the more aggressive early mover, climbing from 82nd among men at the first checkpoint all the way to 58th by 20K, but his pace came back to earth late, and Rudolph's closing effort edged him by 14 seconds (2:44:41 for 4th).

Brian Peterson, 40, rounded out the top five in 2:46:12, his best segment the 15K–20K stretch where he posted the 68th-fastest men's split in the field. Further back, Dan Church (13th, 2:52:45) pulled off an impressive weekend double — he'd earlier placed 8th among men in the Twin Cities 10K, then came back to run a 6:35/mi marathon. And Kevin Zanker, 59, deserves his own mention: 9th in 2:50:28 at 6:30/mi, the oldest man in the top ten of a 1,488-person Masters field, running the point-to-point course from Minneapolis to Saint Paul with plenty left to prove.