Men's Race: Miller and Gardner Dead-Level at the Top, Then a 7-Minute Gap

• Ian Miller (Orangevale, 30) wins the men's race in 1:56:50 at a 5:50/mi pace — holding 1st from wire to wire, with the fastest men's split on the Mile 4→Mile 15.6 stretch.
• Garrett Gardner finishes 2nd in 1:56:50 — same displayed time, but the places tell the story: Miller crossed first, Gardner a whisker behind, with the 2nd-fastest split on that same long middle segment.
• Xavier Venegas (4th, 2:01:01) improved his finish from 4th here in 2025 (2:08:39) by more than seven minutes — the biggest year-over-year leap in the top 10.
• Marco Capelli (54, El Dorado Hills) finishes 6th in 2:06:55 — one of the most remarkable results in the men's field, running just 37 seconds slower than his 2nd-place finish here in 2025 (2:06:18).

The men's race at Run the Parkway's 20-Miler was decided at the very front by the finest of margins. Ian Miller and Garrett Gardner ran essentially the same race — both clocked 1:56:50, held 1st and 2nd at every checkpoint, and posted the two fastest splits on the Mile 4-to-Mile 15.6 segment. The timing chip gave Miller the edge, but the gap between them was measured in fractions of a second across 20 miles of racing at 5:50/mi.

Behind them, Brian Hoh (Folsom, 35) was a steady 3rd the entire way in 2:00:28 at 6:01/mi — holding a 33-second cushion over Xavier Venegas (4th, 2:01:01). Venegas had plenty to feel good about: he posted the 3rd-fastest men's split on the Mile 15.6→Mile 16 segment late in the race, and his 2:01:01 represents a massive improvement over his 4th-place 2:08:39 here in 2025. John Harvey (5th, 2:03:25) made his move on the Mile 4→Mile 15.6 stretch, where he posted the 5th-fastest men's split, climbing from 6th to 5th and holding it to the finish.

The most quietly compelling subplot belonged to Marco Capelli. The 54-year-old from El Dorado Hills crossed in 6th at 2:06:55 — a performance that would have earned 2nd place in last year's edition, where he actually finished 2nd in 2:06:18. Just 37 seconds separated this year's result from that podium finish, and he outpaced men more than two decades his junior. Jacob Iritani (8th, 2:09:08), who was 3rd here in 2025 in 2:06:39, found the going tougher this time around — a reminder that this course doesn't give anything away.