M20-29: Carrillo Dominates, but Three Is Company in the Age Group

• Juan Carrillo won the M20-29 age group in 1:19:53 (7:59/mi), finishing 2nd among men overall.
• Chris Machi claimed 2nd in the age group in 1:56:31 — nearly 37 minutes back, but closed strongly with the 7th-fastest men's split on the HWY 49→Finish leg.
• Zachary Christiansen rounded out the three-man group in 3:06:12, finishing 50th among men.
• The gap from 1st to 3rd in M20-29 stretched to 1:46:19 — a wide spread across just three finishers.

With only three men in the M20-29 age group, the podium was a clean sweep of the field — but the racing itself told three very different stories. Juan Carrillo, the 25-year-old from Carson City, was the clear class of the group from the start, holding 2nd among men through every checkpoint and never relinquishing it. His 1:19:53 at a 7:59/mi clip on a 10-mile course in Cool, CA was a commanding effort, and his split on the Fire Station→HWY 49 segment was the 2nd-fastest among men on that stretch.

Chris Machi of Folsom made his mark in the back half of the race. While he sat 17th among men through the early checkpoints, he moved up three spots to 14th by the finish — and his HWY 49→Finish split ranked 7th among men on that closing leg. It's the kind of finish that suggests he had more in the tank early, or simply saved it for when it mattered.

Zachary Christiansen, making the trip from Pittsburgh, PA, had a tough day on the trails, finishing in 3:06:12 at an 18:37/mi pace. He held steady from the mid-race checkpoint to the finish at 50th among men, but the gap to Machi — nearly 70 minutes — reflects just how spread out this small age group was. Three finishers, three very different races.