M35-39: Leuenberger surges to the front in the final miles

• Josiah Leuenberger won the M35-39 group in 2:27:10 (5:37/mi), climbing from 3rd among men to 1st with the fastest closing split from 25.2M to the finish.
• Oscar Perez ran the second-fastest closing split in the men's field to finish 2nd in 2:35:15 (5:55/mi) — 8:05 back of Leuenberger.
• Adam Ortiz and Jesus Campos finished 3rd and 4th in nearly identical times — 2:43:43 and 2:43:53 — just 10 seconds apart after 26.2 miles.
• Jesus Campos improved on his own 2023 result here (9th in 2:45:15), moving up two spots and trimming 1:22 off his time.

Josiah Leuenberger spent most of this race doing the patient work of a man who knows exactly what he's capable of. He ran in 2nd among men from the opening miles through the halfway point, then slipped to 3rd — and stayed there deep into the race. But from mile 25.2 to the finish, he unleashed the fastest closing split in the men's field, vaulting from 3rd to 1st and crossing in 2:27:10 at a 5:37/mi clip. That kind of late-race acceleration on a flat, fast point-to-point course like Two Cities isn't just good racing — it's a statement.

Oscar Perez ran a similarly strong finish, posting the second-fastest closing split to secure 2nd in 2:35:15. He'd been working his way through the men's field all afternoon — sitting 6th at the midpoint before steadily climbing to his final podium position. Behind him, Adam Ortiz and Jesus Campos staged a race-long battle that ended in a near-photo finish: Ortiz held 3rd in 2:43:43, with Campos just 10 seconds back in 2:43:53. Campos, who finished 9th here in 2023 with a 2:45:15, made a clear leap forward — both in place and time.

The late charges didn't stop at the podium. Michael Parry (5th, 2:47:08) was one of the day's biggest movers, climbing from 28th among men at mile one all the way to 10th by the finish, posting the 8th-fastest second-half split in the men's field along the way. Joseph Flora rounded out the top six in 2:47:19, just 11 seconds behind Parry. Joseph Rivera (7th, 2:57:22) was the last finisher under three hours in the M35-39 group, with Sam Jones (8th, 3:04:44) and Hugo Vera (9th, 3:06:21) leading a steady pack of finishers through the mid-3:00s.