Men's 10K: Ayano Defends, Molloy's Weekend Double Steals the Show

• Gudisa Ayano repeated as men's champion in 33:14 (5:21/mi) — 46 seconds clear of 2nd place, one year after his 2022 win of 32:28.
• Joseph Molloy, 52, finished 2nd in 34:31 — having already won the Saturday 5K earlier in the weekend, making him the standout multi-race performer of the event.
• Sam Rice, 16, of Troon claimed 3rd in 34:58 — the youngest man on the podium, edging out 20-year-old Carlos Lopez Tapia (4th, 35:28) by 30 seconds.
• Patrick Healy, 55, finished 7th in 35:54 — also 2nd in the Saturday 5K, mirroring Molloy's cross-race double one place lower in both races.

Oakland's Gudisa Ayano came back to San Francisco and did it again. The 38-year-old defended his 2022 men's title with a commanding 33:14 at 5:21/mi — 46 seconds ahead of the field on a cool, overcast morning. His winning time was 46 seconds slower than his 2022 mark of 32:28, but the margin of victory was no less decisive. In a men's field of 1,732, no one came close.

The bigger story may belong to Joseph Molloy. The 52-year-old from San Francisco had already stood atop the men's podium in the Saturday 5K, and then backed it up by finishing 2nd in the 10K in 34:31 (5:33/mi) — a genuinely rare double across two races in the same weekend. That's not a footnote; that's one of the best performances of the entire event. For context, Molloy ran 35:58 here in 2022 to finish 9th — he shaved nearly 90 seconds off that mark to land on the podium this time around.

Behind Molloy, the podium chase had its own intrigue. Sam Rice — just 16 years old and traveling from Troon — ran 34:58 to claim 3rd, holding off Carlos Lopez Tapia (4th, 35:28) and Denis Semenenko (5th, 35:43). Patrick Healy, 55, added another cross-race subplot: already 2nd in the Saturday 5K, he finished 7th here in 35:54, making him the rare athlete to podium in one race and crack the top ten in another on the same weekend.

The top 20 were separated by just under six minutes, with Anatoly Prekrasnyy rounding out that group in 20th at 39:02 (6:17/mi). The depth was real — and the stories at the front were even better.