M19 & Under: Sijstermans Dominates the San Francisco 10K

• Miles Sijstermans, 15, wins in 36:22 (5:51/mi) — more than three minutes clear of the field.
• Levi Myers and Finneas Jensen battle for 2nd: Myers finishes 39:35 to Jensen's 39:40 — five seconds the margin after 6.2 miles.
• Jensen fades late, Myers holds: Jensen ran the 8th-fastest split on the closing 4.62M→Finish segment among the women's field; Jensen's was 47th — a meaningful gap that flipped the dynamic in the final miles.
• Tahir Malik, age 11, finishes 19th in a field of 94 under-19 runners, crossing in 50:57 at 8:12/mi.

Los Altos Hills' Miles Sijstermans, just 15 years old, turned the M19 & Under race into a solo time trial from the gun. His 36:22 finish at 5:51/mi left the rest of the field watching his back — runner-up Levi Myers came home in 39:35, a gap of over three minutes. On a cool, overcast San Francisco morning with barely any wind, conditions were about as cooperative as the city ever offers, and Sijstermans made full use of them.

The real drama played out behind him, where Myers and Finneas Jensen — two 15- and 16-year-olds from the Bay Area — ran nearly in lockstep for most of the race. With 4.62 miles to go, Jensen actually held a stronger position in the broader women's field (16th) than Myers (24th), suggesting Jensen had been the faster runner to that point. But the closing stretch told a different story: Myers ran the 21st-fastest split on that final segment while Jensen faded to 47th. Five seconds separated them at the line — 39:35 to 39:40 — a catch-up built entirely in those final miles.

Emanuel Yilma (19, Brentwood) and Barbod Vaezeafshar (19, Mountain View) rounded out the top five in 41:03 and 41:30 respectively, while George Jensen and Alex Parikh-Briggs finished 6th and 7th just one second apart — 42:32 and 42:33. Further back, 11-year-old Tahir Malik of San Rafael was one of the race's quiet standouts, finishing 19th among 94 under-19 competitors in 50:57. Running a 10K at age 11 in any field is notable; doing it here, on San Francisco's demanding streets, makes it worth a mention.