M20-29: Tyler Rocha Runs Away With It in 19:11

• Tyler Rocha won the M20-29 age group in 19:11:32 — more than 2 hours ahead of runner-up Gerber Vicente (21:13:35), the largest margin on the podium.
• Gerber Vicente was one of the day's great climbers through the field, moving from 122nd to 13th among men on his way to 2nd in M20-29 — a relentless charge across 100 miles.
• Stuart Suplick locked up 3rd in 21:50:12, posting the 7th-fastest split on the No Hands 1→ALT segment as he held off a strong mid-race push from the chasing pack.
• Places 4 and 5 were separated by just 3 minutes 18 seconds — Will Boardman (23:20:11) edging Conor Drewes (23:16:53) — with Drewes actually finishing the faster of the two but Boardman crossing 4th by the timing chip.

Tyler Rocha set a pace that the rest of the M20-29 field simply couldn't answer. Running 11:31 per mile across 100 miles of Sierra Nevada foothills on a warm November day, the Seattle 29-year-old was never seriously threatened. His moves among the men's field — ranging between 3rd and 7th at various checkpoints — show he ran a measured, controlled race rather than going out reckless. The cherry on top: the 2nd-fastest split on the Granite Beach 2→Finish stretch, meaning he was still pressing hard when others were just trying to survive the closing miles.

Behind Rocha, the real drama was Gerber Vicente's extraordinary forward march. Starting the race buried in the men's field, Vicente spent every segment clawing back positions — from 122nd among men early on all the way to 13th by the finish. That kind of sustained aggression over a hundred miles is rare, and it earned him a clear 2nd in M20-29 with a 12:44/mi average. Stuart Suplick (13:06/mi) was similarly strong in the middle portions, his 7th-fastest No Hands 1→ALT split reflecting genuine strength at a demanding point in the course.

The back half of the top five told a different story. Conor Drewes, the 27-year-old from Incline Village, faded through the men's field as the miles mounted — sliding from 16th among men early to 33rd by the finish — but still came in 5th in M20-29 at 23:16:53. Will Boardman made the opposite journey in the broader field, climbing from 111th among men to 35th, and claimed 4th despite Drewes finishing 3 minutes and 18 seconds faster. Twenty-three men in their 20s finished a 100-miler in the California heat — that alone deserves acknowledgment.