M25-29: Xavier Smith Takes Command and Never Lets Go

• Xavier Smith ran 2:20:24 (5:21/mi) to win the M25-29 age group — a margin of over 16 minutes on runner-up Connor Nolen.
• Smith posted the fastest men's split on the 1M→10K segment, a blistering early move that vaulted him from 39th among men at mile one to 2nd by the 10K mark — and then to 1st, where he stayed for the rest of the race.
• Connor Nolen (2:36:36) and Trevor Spence (2:38:30) separated by just under two minutes for 2nd and 3rd, with Spence climbing steadily from 63rd among men at mile one to 8th by the finish.
• 74°F and clear skies made for warm racing conditions on the streets of Fresno — context that makes Smith's 5:21/mi average all the more striking.

Xavier Smith didn't just win the M25-29 age group at the Two Cities Marathon — he dominated it. The 25-year-old from Lake Forest moved through the men's field like a freight train in the opening miles, turning the fastest men's split on the 1M–10K stretch into a lead he would carry, unchallenged, through every checkpoint to the tape. By the time the race settled into its middle miles, Smith was simply running his own race out front, finishing in 2:20:24 — a time that left the rest of the age group more than a quarter-hour behind.

Behind him, the real contest was between Connor Nolen and Trevor Spence. Nolen, 29, from nearby Madera, ran a controlled 5:58/mi pace to hold 2nd in 2:36:36. Spence, meanwhile, was one of the day's most compelling movers — the 25-year-old San Franciscan checked in 63rd among men at the first mile marker and worked his way steadily through the field all afternoon, cracking the top 10 among men by the finish and claiming 3rd in 2:38:30. His 4th-fastest men's split on the 25.2M–to-finish stretch was a strong closing move.

Jack Anderson (2:49:58) and Bradley Buehner (2:52:03) rounded out the top five, with Buehner — a Fresno local — also posting a strong closing split to edge past a few rivals in the final miles. The gap from 5th to 6th was just over a minute, with Devin Fiorentino (2:53:10) leading a tight cluster through positions six through nine. In a field of 95 finishers, the M25-29 age group delivered a clear winner and a genuinely competitive chase pack worth watching.