M35-39: Viglienzoni Runs Away with It in Folsom's November Heat

• Joe Viglienzoni won the M35-39 group in 1:23:48 (6:24/mi), finishing more than a minute clear of runner-up Parker Daniells.
• The top three were separated by just 2:07 — but a 8:34 gap then separated 3rd from 4th, making the podium a race within the race.
• Matthew Green was the group's biggest mover in the back half, climbing from 13th among men to 10th with the 9th-fastest second-half split among the men.
• 21 finishers completed the M35-39 race, spanning a range of 1:12:40 from first to last listed.

With 74°F on the course and a mild breeze doing little to help, the M35-39 group at Run the Parkway's Half Marathon produced a sharp front-end battle and a clear winner. Joe Viglienzoni, 37, of West Sacramento, was already moving through the men's field during the middle stretch — rising from 5th to 3rd among men between miles 4 and 10 — and he never looked back. His 6:24/mi average held firm to the tape, delivering a 1:23:48 that no one in the group came close to matching.

Parker Daniells (38, Orangevale) and Jonathan Carter (39, Lodi) gave chase and earned their podium spots, but the story of the middle miles tells you how the race was won. Viglienzoni posted the 3rd-fastest split among men on the mile 4-to-10 segment; Daniells was 4th on that same stretch, Carter 5th. They were running nearly in lockstep through the heart of the course, but Viglienzoni had just enough to hold the gap. Daniells crossed in 1:25:00, Carter in 1:25:55 — a tight 2:07 separating silver from bronze.

Behind them, a significant gap opened before Nick Kakavas (4th, 1:34:22) and Matthew Green (5th, 1:36:16) settled into their own contest. Green was the more compelling story in that pair — he clawed his way from 13th among men at the midpoint all the way to 10th by the finish, logging the 9th-fastest second-half split in the men's field. Kakavas held 8th among men throughout. The rest of the M35-39 field spread across a wide range of efforts, from Andrian Tumuruc's solid 1:37:46 down to Tony Xiong's determined 2:36:28 — every one of them earning it on a warm November morning in Folsom.