Shamrock Marathon M25-29: Horseman-Guy edges out a sub-2:31 win in the humidity

• Devin Horseman-Guy took the M25-29 title in 2:30:40 (5:45/mi), holding off Gabriel Loader by 33 seconds in a race where the top two both cracked 2:32.
• Jacob Felice was the biggest mover in the top five, climbing from 42nd to 16th among men before finishing 5th in M25-29 in 2:44:53 — posting the 9th-fastest 25.2M-to-finish split in the men's field.
• Tyler Krickovic and Felice staged a near-photo-finish for 4th and 5th, separated by just 53 seconds after 26.2 miles; Krickovic crossed in 2:44:00, Felice in 2:44:53.
• A field of 297 finishers stretched from Horseman-Guy's 5:45/mi down to the back of the pack, with the top 20 all finishing under 3:00.

Virginia Beach's 55°F morning with 95% humidity and an 11 mph wind made for honest work, and Devin Horseman-Guy handled it as well as anyone in the M25-29 field. The 26-year-old from Baltimore ran 5:45/mi from start to finish, holding a position of 2nd or 3rd among men for most of the race before crossing in 2:30:40. His 5K–10K split was the 2nd-fastest among men across that stretch — an early signal that he had the legs to stay near the front all day.

Gabriel Loader of Charlottesville gave chase the entire way, moving from 7th among men at the opening checkpoint up to 4th by the finish, clocking 2:31:13 at 5:46/mi. The gap between them — 33 seconds — tells the real story: Loader was never far off, but Horseman-Guy never let him close it. Loader's own 25.2M-to-finish split ranked 2nd among men, meaning he was flying late, but Horseman-Guy had simply built enough of a cushion. Max Wilde of Chapel Hill rounded out the podium in 2:35:20 (5:55/mi), finishing 6th among men overall and posting the 6th-fastest 15K–20K split in the men's field.

The most dramatic journey through the M25-29 field belonged to Jacob Felice. The Germantown, MD, 29-year-old started 42nd among men and spent the entire race moving forward, reaching 16th by the finish line with a 2:44:53 effort. His late surge — the 9th-fastest closing split in the men's field from 25.2 miles to the finish — nearly swallowed Tyler Krickovic (4th, 2:44:00), who had been steadily climbing from 23rd. In the end Krickovic held on by 53 seconds, but both men delivered strong late-race performances in conditions that had plenty of runners fading.