M35-39 at Peachtree: Nathan Martin Runs Away With It

• Nathan Martin wins in 29:24 (4:44/mi), nearly 4 minutes and 19 seconds clear of runner-up Frank Matte — a dominant margin in a field of 2,822.
• Matte and Lowndes battle for the podium: just 10 seconds separated 2nd (33:43) from 3rd (33:53), with Steven Tyler Underwood another 11 seconds back in 4th.
• Martin's late surge was decisive: he moved from 23rd among men at mile 1 to 17th by the finish, including a 5M-to-finish split that ranked 10th-fastest among the men.
• 2,822 finishers made M35-39 one of the race's deepest fields, with the top 20 all coming in under 6:11/mi.

Nathan Martin made the Peachtree 10K look like a different race than the one everyone else was running. The 36-year-old from Jackson, FL, crossed in 29:24 at a 4:44/mi clip — a time that put him nearly four and a half minutes ahead of his nearest competitor. In the warm, humid Atlanta morning (75°F, 68% humidity), that kind of sustained pace is genuinely remarkable. Martin was already moving through the men's field by mile 1, and he kept climbing, cracking the top 20 among men by the finish. His 5M-to-finish split ranked 10th-fastest among men in the entire race — he was accelerating while others were grinding it out.

Behind Martin, the real drama was a three-man scrap for the podium. Frank Matte (37, Birmingham) held off Andrew Lowndes (35, Atlanta) by just 10 seconds — 33:43 to 33:53 — both running right around 5:27/mi. Lowndes had the stronger middle miles, posting the 41st-fastest men's split on the 3M-to-4M segment and climbing as high as 52nd among men before fading slightly to 54th at the line. Matte, meanwhile, found his best gear late, recording the 46th-fastest men's split on the 4M-to-5M leg to secure 2nd. Steven Tyler Underwood (39, Chula Vista) rounded out the top four at 34:04, having led the early charge with the 48th-fastest men's split on the opening 1M-to-2M leg.

Fabien Frieling and Juan Jimenez completed the top six at 34:16 and 34:24 respectively, keeping the gap to 7th-place Matthew Hickey (35:40) wide open. With 2,822 finishers spread across the M35-39 field, this was a race within a race — and Martin's 29:24 was the definitive statement of the day.