M40-44: Charles Li Runs Down the Field for the Win

• Charles Li, 1:26:00 (6:34/mi): won M40-44 and climbed from 25th to 20th among all men in the back half, posting the 16th-fastest men's split on the 10.5M–12M stretch.
• João Paulo Vasconcellos, 1:28:32: surged from 42nd to 30th among men with the 10th-fastest men's split on the 8M–9.6M segment — the most explosive single-leg move in the M40-44 field.
• Ben Davis, 1:30:15: held 3rd in M40-44 despite fading from 40th to 52nd among men between miles 9.6 and 10.5, then recovering to 46th at the finish.
• 319 finishers completed M40-44, with the top four all breaking 1:32 across a competitive 59°F morning on the San Francisco streets.

Charles Li came to race. The 40-year-old from Oakland moved steadily through the men's field in the first half, sitting 25th among men by the midpoint, then held position through mile 10 before making his decisive push — his 10.5M–12M split ranked 16th among all men, and he climbed to 20th in the men's field by the line. His 6:34/mi average was a full eleven seconds per mile faster than runner-up João Paulo Vasconcellos, and the 2:32 gap between them at the finish reflects a commanding margin at the top of M40-44.

Vasconcellos was the race's great mover. The 43-year-old from Palo Alto spent much of the early going bouncing between 38th and 61st among men, but his 8M–9.6M split — 10th fastest among all men — was the surge that defined his race. He locked in 30th among men by the finish and 2nd in M40-44 at 1:28:32 (6:45/mi). Ben Davis of Eugene rounded out the podium in 1:30:15 (6:53/mi), though he had to weather a dip — sliding from 40th to 52nd among men in the 9.6–10.5M stretch — before regrouping to take 3rd. Jamie Conlin (Denver, 1:31:28, 6:59/mi) was consistent throughout, moving steadily from 81st to 57th among men to claim 4th.

Mark Eisenman told a different story: the Chicago runner started briskly — 50th among men early — before fading to 85th by mid-race and finishing 5th in M40-44 at 1:33:39 (7:09/mi), his 57th-fastest men's split on the 10.5M–12M segment a sign of a tough final miles. Behind him, Jonathan Saviet (6th, 1:34:40), Greg Fallet of Biarritz (7th, 1:35:43), and Michael Scherer of San Francisco (8th, 1:37:34) filled out a deep top ten, with the field extending all the way through 319 finishers on a breezy, overcast morning by the Bay.