Men's Marathon: Shitsama's Late Surge Steals the Show in Minneapolis

• Victor Shitsama wins in 2:12:20, averaging 5:03/mi across 26.2 miles on the point-to-point run from downtown Minneapolis to the State Capitol in Saint Paul.
• Shitsama posted the fastest men's split between 25K and 30K, the surge that ultimately cracked the lead group — he was as far back as 9th among men at one checkpoint before breaking to the front for good.
• Andrew Kaye ran the 2nd-fastest men's split on the 15K–20K segment and held 2nd place from that stretch all the way to the finish, crossing in 2:12:35 — just 15 seconds behind the winner.
• Defending champion Will Norris, who won here in 2025 in 2:15:39, finished 8th this year in 2:17:26 — 47 seconds slower than his winning time and well off the pace of the top five.

Victor Shitsama's path to the win was anything but linear. The 28-year-old from Stillwater, OK, pinballed through the standings — 4th, then 7th, then back up to 2nd, then sliding as far as 9th — before his decisive 25K–30K surge rewrote the race. That was the move that mattered. From that point forward he climbed steadily: 4th, then 3rd, then to the front and he never surrendered it, finishing in 2:12:20.

Andrew Kaye ran the most consistent race of any podium finisher, sitting 2nd from the 15K mark onward and never wavering. His 2:12:35 at 5:03/mi matched Shitsama's average pace — the difference was simply that Shitsama made his decisive move at the right moment and Kaye couldn't answer. Amanuel Tikue added a compelling wrinkle: the 35-year-old from Flagstaff briefly led the men's race, holding 1st at both the 30K and 35K checkpoints and posting the fastest men's split on that 30K–35K segment, before Shitsama's earlier surge had already done its damage. Tikue held on for 3rd in 2:12:57.

Camren Todd ran the fastest men's split of anyone on the 15K–20K leg and moved steadily through the field to finish 4th in 2:13:41, while Medhane Woldu's 2nd-fastest men's split on the 20K–25K segment helped him hold 5th in 2:14:25. Benjamin Olson of Alexandria, MN — racing close to home — was the next man across in 2:15:39 for 6th, matching almost to the second the time Norris ran to win here a year ago. Norris himself, the 2025 champion, finished 8th in 2:17:26 — a tough day for a title defense, though his 2024 result of 2:12:33 shows he knows this course well. The men's field of 5,160 finishers rounded out with 21-year-old Evan Christopherson (12th, 2:27:00) and 20-year-old Chris Vachon (18th, 2:30:06) among the youngest to make the top 20.