M40-44: Pereira Edges Scheid in a Blistering Battle at the Front

• Warren Pereira wins in 41:33 (6:41/mi), with David Scheid just 11 seconds back at 41:44 — the narrowest margin in the M40-44 field.
• Aaron Trieu takes third in 43:56, more than two minutes behind Scheid and two minutes clear of fourth.
• 110 finishers tackled the M40-44 race on a cool, humid San Francisco morning — 55°F with heavy overcast and near-total humidity.
• The top five were all separated by under 3:30, while the race from 3rd to 20th spread across a further six minutes of racing.

Warren Pereira, the 42-year-old from Sydney, was the class of the M40-44 field on Sunday morning. His 41:33 — a 6:41/mi clip through San Francisco's famously unforgiving streets — was the benchmark no one could match. Closest was David Scheid, the 40-year-old local running on home turf, who crossed in 41:44 at 6:43/mi. Those 11 seconds represent a genuine contest at the front: Scheid was right there, but Pereira held firm.

Third place went to Aaron Trieu of Emeryville, who finished in 43:56 at 7:04/mi — a meaningful step back from the leading pair but a comfortable buffer over the rest of the podium chase. Abel Alejandrino (44:20, 7:08/mi) slotted into fourth, with Christopher Pelosi rounding out the top five in 44:59 at 7:14/mi. The gap from Trieu to Pelosi — just over a minute — shows how competitive the middle of the field was.

The battle for sixth and seventh was tight in its own right: Brian Dela Pena (45:19, 7:18/mi) and Mark Benitez (45:23, 7:18/mi) finished just four seconds apart, with Guillaume Decalf (46:21, 7:28/mi) not far behind in eighth. David Sotelo and Trinidad Viramontes of Modesto both clocked 46:46–46:47 at 7:32/mi to claim ninth and tenth — a near-identical finish time masking a clear placing. The field ran deep, with all 110 finishers navigating the Bay's cool, damp air down to the final recorded name, Jianfeng Wu, crossing 20th in 49:50.