M0-19 Marathon: Von Behren leads a young field through wine country

• James Von Behren (17, Berkeley) wins in 3:24:40 — a 7:48/mi effort that put nearly four minutes of daylight between him and runner-up Peter Eierman (3:28:50).
• Strong second-half surge from the top three: Von Behren, Eierman, and Jeston Lu all moved up in the men's field from the halfway point to the finish — Von Behren climbing from 247th to 208th, Eierman from 285th to 233rd, and Lu from 382nd to 298th.
• Oliver Jacobs ran the opposite arc: starting at 246th in the men's field, the Oakland 18-year-old slipped to 319th by the finish — the only top-five finisher to lose ground in the second half.
• A wide spread at the back: the final three finishers — Landon Luong (4:57:05), Juan Benavidez (4:59:43), and Kyle Hetherton (5:06:20) — were separated by just over nine minutes among themselves, but sat nearly an hour behind the winner.

Ten young runners toed the line at Santa Rosa's Boston Qualifier marathon, and 17-year-old James Von Behren of Berkeley made it his race from the start. Running at 7:48/mi, Von Behren crossed in 3:24:40 — the kind of number that turns heads on a flat, fast course through Sonoma County wine country. His margin over second-place Peter Eierman (3:28:50, 7:58/mi) was 4:10, a gap that tells a clear story: this wasn't close at the front.

Eierman, the 18-year-old from Napa, was comfortably clear of third-place Jeston Lu (3:41:29, 8:27/mi) by nearly 13 minutes. Lu, in turn, held off Oliver Jacobs by just over four minutes — but Jacobs' second half told a different tale. While Lu moved from 382nd to 298th in the men's field after the halfway mark, Jacobs went the other direction, sliding from 246th to 319th. Hugo Sanchez rounded out the top five in 3:50:13 (8:47/mi), having clawed back 123 spots in the men's field over the back half of the race.

Jaydrek Andre Magsano finished 6th in 3:56:26 and Derek Sadorra 7th in 4:14:06, before a notable gap opened to the final trio. Luong (4:57:05), Benavidez (4:59:43), and Hetherton (5:06:20) all navigated the full 26.2 miles at a measured pace, each earning their finisher medal and full-zip jacket at Old Courthouse Square.