M25-29: Xavier Smith Runs Away With It in Fresno Heat

• Xavier Smith, 2:20:24 (5:21/mi): won M25-29 and surged from 5th among men to 1st by the 10K mark — a lead he never relinquished, posting the fastest men's split on the opening 1M→10K segment.
• Connor Nolen, 2:36:36 (5:58/mi): held 2nd in M25-29 by a 1:54 margin over Trevor Spence, running the 4th-fastest men's split on the 1M→10K leg.
• Trevor Spence, 2:38:30 (6:03/mi): the strongest closer in the group, posting the 4th-fastest men's split on the 25.2M→Finish stretch to lock up 3rd.
• Jack Anderson, 2:49:58 (6:29/mi): moved steadily from 27th among men at the opening checkpoint all the way to 17th by the finish, logging the 18th-fastest men's split on the Half→18M segment.

Racing on a warm November morning in Fresno — 74°F under clear skies — the M25-29 group sent 95 finishers across the line, and the story at the front was over early. Xavier Smith, 25, from Lake Forest, came into the 10K already leading the men's field and never looked back, ultimately winning M25-29 in 2:20:24 at a 5:21/mi clip. That's a 16-minute gap to runner-up Connor Nolen — a margin that speaks to just how dominant Smith's day was.

Nolen, a 29-year-old from nearby Madera, ran a controlled 5:58/mi to hold 2nd, but had to keep an eye on Trevor Spence of San Francisco closing hard. Spence ran 6:03/mi overall and owned one of the sharpest finishing kicks in the group — his 4th-fastest men's split on the final 25.2M-to-Finish stretch made the gap to Nolen just 1:54. A 2nd-place finish was never truly threatened, but Spence made sure the podium picture was worth watching to the end.

Behind the top three, Jack Anderson (2:49:58) and Bradley Buehner (2:52:03) rounded out the top five with contrasting trajectories. Anderson steadily climbed from 27th among men at the opening checkpoint to 17th by the finish — a quiet, disciplined effort. Buehner, the local Fresno runner, faded slightly through the back half after a strong early position. Devin Fiorentino (2:53:10) and Bernardino Vega (2:55:14) followed close behind, with six of the top nine finishers separated by under 35 minutes — a competitive mid-pack in a tough afternoon.