M40-44: Ryan McLeod Runs Away from a 4,826-Strong Field

• McLeod wins in 2:19:41 (5:20/mi), finishing 2 minutes 35 seconds clear of Oskar Jonsson in 2nd — a commanding margin in a group of 4,826 finishers.
• Yoann Stuck's dramatic fade: he ran among the fastest men in the early miles but tumbled from 12th among men at 5K all the way to 86th by the finish — the starkest collapse in the top 20.
• Jonsson's closing surge: he posted the 15th-fastest split in the field on the 40K-to-finish stretch, climbing from 37th among men at 30K to 29th at the line — the strongest finish of anyone in the top five.
• Tight mid-pack battle: Jonathan Frost and Alistair Smith both clocked 2:28:56, with places 10th and 11th decided by a sliver of a second at the line.

Ryan McLeod made the M40-44 title look straightforward, but his splits tell a more nuanced story. He entered the 15K–20K segment already climbing — moving from 35th among men at the start of the race to 17th by halfway — and his 16th-fastest split in the field on that stretch was the engine of the move. By 30K he was 13th among men and pulling clear of everyone in the age group. His 5:20/mi average over 26.2 miles in London's breezy, 56°F conditions is a performance that holds up against any benchmark in this field.

Oskar Jonsson was the day's best closer. Patient through the first half — sitting 78th among men as late as 10K — he began threading his way through the field and saved his best for last, posting one of the sharpest 40K-to-finish splits in the entire men's race. That late charge earned him 2nd in M40-44 in 2:22:16. Daniel Gaffney rounded out the podium in 2:23:48, having made his move earlier: he was already 57th among men by 10K and ran a controlled, consistent second half to hold 3rd.

The cautionary tale of the day belongs to Yoann Stuck. He blazed through the opening 10K with the 12th-fastest split among men and sat 12th among men overall at that point — a trajectory that suggested a podium challenge. Instead, something unravelled after halfway. By 30K he had slipped to 60th among men, and he crossed the line 86th, 5th in M40-44 in 2:25:41. It was the most dramatic reversal among the top finishers, and it opened the door for Peter Coates (6th, 2:25:52) to nearly reel him in over the final miles.