Men's Marathon: Leuenberger's Late Surge Steals the Show

• Josiah Leuenberger, 2:27:10 — ran as low as 3rd in the men's field before unleashing the fastest closing split (25.2M→Finish) to claim the win.
• Sheldon Watanabe, 2:28:44 — led wire-to-near-wire with the fastest opening split (1M→10K), but faded from 1st to 4th late before recovering to finish 2nd, 1:34 back.
• Oscar Perez, 3rd in 2:35:15 — the local Fresno runner posted the 2nd-fastest closing split to finish a clear 3rd, 6:31 behind the winner.
• John Damen, 44, finished 5th in 2:39:29 — the oldest man in the top 10 ran the 4th-fastest second-half split, quietly climbing from 10th at the first checkpoint to 5th at the line.

Josiah Leuenberger of East Garrison ran a patient, calculated race on Fresno's flat, USATF-certified course. He sat in 2nd for the opening stretch, slipped back to 3rd by the midpoint, and appeared content to stalk the leaders — until the final mile. When it mattered most, the 38-year-old produced the fastest closing split of any man in the field from 25.2 miles to the finish, surging past Watanabe and crossing in 2:27:10 at a 5:37/mi clip.

Sheldon Watanabe had looked like the man to beat. The 23-year-old from La Cañada Flintridge went out hard, leading from the gun and posting the fastest 1M–10K split in the men's field. He held the top spot through most of the race, but the wheels came loose in the final miles — he dropped to 4th before rallying to salvage 2nd in 2:28:44. The gap to Leuenberger at the line was 1:34, a margin that tells the story of a lead surrendered in the closing miles.

Oscar Perez brought some hometown pride to the finish, with the Fresno native working his way steadily through the field — from 6th at the 10K mark to 3rd at the tape in 2:35:15. His 2nd-fastest closing split in the men's field mirrored Leuenberger's finishing strength, even if the pace (5:55/mi) was a notch behind. Behind the podium, Joseph Skurski (4th, 2:38:51) and the impressive John Damen (5th, 2:39:29) rounded out a top five separated by just 4:19 — Damen's quiet climb from 10th early to 5th at the finish one of the more understated moves of the day in a men's field of 390.