M30-39: Kyle Roberts Wins a 100-Mile Chess Match in 16:58:35

• Roberts took the win in 16:58:35 (10:11/mi), posting the fastest split in the men's field on the Beals Point 1→Willow Creek segment on his way to the top step in M30-39.
• Rokas Zickevicius ran the race of his life from the back, climbing from 12th among men at the first checkpoint all the way to 3rd, where he held firm — finishing 2nd in M30-39 in 18:10:58.
• Colton Gale led the men's field at multiple early checkpoints before fading to 4th among men and 3rd in M30-39, clocking 18:15:56 — just 4:58 behind Zickevicius.
• 35 finishers completed the M30-39 field across a grueling 100 miles in mild but long November conditions.

Kyle Roberts didn't have the smoothest ride to the front. He opened somewhere in the top handful among men, slipped as far back as 3rd by mid-race, then methodically clawed his way back. By the time he hit the late checkpoints he was locked in at the front and never let go, finishing in 16:58:35 at a 10:11/mi average — a pace that, across 100 miles in 72°F California heat, is simply fast. His fastest split on the Beals Point 1→Willow Creek stretch was a statement move that helped seal the deal.

The story of 2nd place belongs to Rokas Zickevicius of Palo Alto, who ran a textbook negative-split-style progression through the men's field. Starting 12th among men, he was 10th by the second check, 5th by the third, and 3rd by the fourth — then he stayed exactly there for the rest of the race. His 3rd-fastest split in the men's field on the ALT→Cool segment was a key moment in that climb through the standings. He crossed in 18:10:58.

Colton Gale of Bend had a completely different arc. He was 2nd among men at the gun, then surged to lead the entire men's field through the early-to-middle checkpoints — a bold move over 100 miles. But the back half of a century has a way of settling scores, and Gale faded from 1st to 6th among men before recovering slightly to finish 4th among men and 3rd in M30-39 at 18:15:56. His fastest split on the Willow Creek→Beals Point 2 leg is a reminder of just how strong he was at his peak.

Behind the podium, Esteban Ureña (4th, 19:01:37) ran a composed, methodical race — entering the top 10 among men by the third checkpoint and never dropping out of it. Jeffrey Klahn (5th, 20:34:22) posted the fastest split in the men's field on the Rattlesnake Bar 2→Granite Beach 2 segment, a bright spot in a race where he moved from 24th among men to 9th by the finish. In a field of 35 finishers spread across more than seven hours of finishing times, the M30-39 group delivered a full race's worth of drama at every point on the course.