M45-49 Half Marathon: Cedric Clotilde Runs Away With It

• Cedric Clotilde won the M45-49 group in 1:21:48 (6:14/mi) — more than six minutes clear of second place.
• Carlos Cortez took second in 1:28:00 (6:43/mi), finishing a comfortable 10:27 ahead of the podium battle below him.
• Roberto De Loera (1:39:27) edged Scott Kostelyk (1:39:37) for third — just 10 seconds separating them — while Brian Regier (1:39:54) was another 17 seconds back in fifth.
• A strong second half from Clotilde: he moved from 13th to 10th among the men on the 10K-to-finish stretch, posting the 6th-fastest split on that segment in the men's field.

Cedric Clotilde, 45, out of Fairview, put on a clinic in the M45-49 group at the Two Cities Half Marathon. His 1:21:48 at 6:14/mi wasn't just a win — it was a statement, with a gap of over six minutes to second place. He was already well clear by the midpoint, and he kept pushing on the back half, running the 6th-fastest 10K-to-finish split among the men and climbing from 13th to 10th in the men's field over that same stretch.

Carlos Cortez of Gardena ran a composed 1:28:00 (6:43/mi) for second, and his own back half told a similar story — moving from 26th to 18th among the men on the 10K-to-finish leg with the 17th-fastest split on that segment. He ran his own race and was never threatened for the runner-up spot.

The real drama in M45-49 was the fight for third. Roberto De Loera (Sanger, age 47) came through in 1:39:27, with Scott Kostelyk (Visalia, age 48) just 10 seconds behind at 1:39:37. Crucially, Kostelyk had been running ahead of De Loera earlier — he entered the 10K-to-finish stretch ranked 39th among the men — but De Loera, ranked 74th at that point, ran a faster closing leg (54th-fastest vs. Kostelyk's 84th-fastest split) to overtake him and claim the bronze. Brian Regier (Reedley, 1:39:54) made a similar late charge — moving from 76th to 59th among the men — but couldn't quite reel in Kostelyk, finishing fifth, 17 seconds behind De Loera.

The rest of the top 20 was a tightly packed affair, with Jason Horsman (6th, 1:43:53) through Jorge Cubias (20th, 1:57:47) covering a span of about 14 minutes across 15 finishers — a testament to the competitive depth across the 53-man M45-49 field.