M20-24: Dapash Dominates Peachtree in a 27:42 Masterclass

• Raphael Dapash, 22, won M20-24 in 27:42 — a 4:27/mi average that put him 1st among men at the finish line.
• The podium was decided in under 30 seconds: Kiprono Sitonik (2nd, 28:03) and Tadese Worku (3rd, 28:10) finished within 28 seconds of Dapash — and just 7 seconds of each other.
• Dapash's 3M→4M split was the fastest among men in the field at that segment, the move that coincided with his surge from 4th to 1st among men.
• Ethan Curnow led the Georgia contingent with a 31:16 (5:02/mi), finishing 5th in M20-24 and posting the 22nd-fastest men's split on the second half of the course.

In a field of 1,617 M20-24 finishers on a warm, humid Fourth of July morning in Atlanta, Raphael Dapash of Nairobi ran a race that was anything but passive. Through the opening miles he sat 11th among men, patient and tracking. By the 3M mark he had climbed to 4th, and then he struck — his 3M→4M split was the fastest men's split in the field on that segment, the decisive surge that carried him to the front. He crossed in 27:42, a 4:27/mi clip in 75-degree humidity that demands real respect.

Behind him, the battle for 2nd and 3rd was absorbing. Kiprono Sitonik, 24, had been steadily threading his way forward all race — 17th among men early, 11th by 3M, and ultimately 5th at the finish among men — and his 4M→5M split ranked 6th among men in the field. Tadese Worku, also 24, took a more turbulent route: he dipped as low as 12th among men at the 3M mark before rallying hard, posting the 5th-fastest men's split on the 3M→4M segment and locking in 3rd. The gap between Sitonik and Worku at the line was just seven seconds. Dawit Seare, 21, rounded out the top four in 28:21, the youngest man on the podium fringe.

The chase pack was led by Atlanta's own Ethan Curnow, who ran a composed 31:16 to finish 5th in M20-24, picking off places steadily through the back half with the 22nd-fastest men's split on the second half of the course. Drew Zink (31:42) and Matthew Bartelt (31:48) filled out the top seven, separated by just six seconds — tight racing well behind the leaders but competitive in its own right across a massive field.