Men's 50K: Reese Leads Wire to Wire in Granite Bay

• James Reese (Orland, CA, age 27) wins in 3:53:39 (7:31/mi), holding 1st among the men from start to finish.
• Eduardo Sanchez Fernandez finishes 2nd in 4:05:18, closing with the fastest men's split on the Granite Beach–to–Finish segment to secure the runner-up spot.
• Dario Cantu (age 47) takes 3rd in 4:12:33, edging Miroslav Bubela (4th, 4:12:38) by just five seconds — the tightest gap of the day.
• Gabriel Glasier (age 49) makes the biggest move of the race, climbing from 16th to 5th on the Beals Point–to–Willow Creek segment.

James Reese was never seriously threatened. Running 7:31/mi across 50 kilometers of Granite Bay trails in 54°F and clear skies, the 27-year-old from Orland sat at the front from the opening checkpoint and never relinquished it, posting the fastest men's split on the Beals Point–to–Willow Creek leg along the way. His winning time of 3:53:39 left the field well behind — second place came in more than eleven minutes later.

Eduardo Sanchez Fernandez made his move late. Starting the race in 3rd, he climbed to 2nd by the second checkpoint and held it, then sealed the runner-up position with the fastest men's split on the Granite Beach–to–Finish stretch, crossing in 4:05:18 at 7:54/mi. Behind him, the battle for the final podium spot was decided by the narrowest margin of the race: Dario Cantu, a 47-year-old from Davis, finished 3rd in 4:12:33, just five seconds ahead of Miroslav Bubela's 4:12:38 in 4th. Cantu had also posted the 3rd-fastest men's split on the Beals Point–to–Willow Creek segment, while Bubela countered with the 2nd-fastest split on the Granite Beach–to–Finish leg — two runners running very different races to nearly the same clock.

The story of the day's biggest surge belongs to Gabriel Glasier. The 49-year-old from Mountain View entered the Beals Point–to–Willow Creek segment sitting 16th among the men and exited it in 5th, posting the 5th-fastest men's split on that leg. He held that position all the way to the finish in 4:31:43. One name worth noting further back: Jose Arreola (11th, 5:04:47) returned to Rio Del Lago having gone 7th here in 2025 with a 4:38:00 — a slower day this time around, but a finish nonetheless in a men's field of 74.