Way Too Cool 50K Men: Riedel holds wire-to-wire as Gold charges late

• Sean Riedel wins in 3:37:18 (6:60/mi avg), leading the men's field from the opening checkpoint through the finish — never relinquishing the top spot across six tracked positions.
• 90-second podium spread: Riedel (3:37:18), Alex Gold (3:38:48), and Connor Rosenblatt (3:40:53) finished within a minute and a half of each other across 31 miles of Sierra Nevada foothills trail.
• Jamie Hunyor's turnaround: 5th in 3:44:44 this year after finishing 10th in 3:56:19 here in 2025 — a 11:35 improvement on the same course.
• Robert Ressl's closing surge: Starting 6th at the early checkpoints, the North Auburn local moved steadily through the field to lock down 4th by the ALT→Goat Hill segment — where he posted the fastest men's split of anyone on that stretch.

Sean Riedel, 27, from Santa Cruz, ran the kind of race that leaves no drama about the outcome — but plenty of admiration for the execution. He sat at the front from the first checkpoint and never let anyone close enough to make it interesting, finishing in 3:37:18 at a 6:60/mi average. For good measure, he posted the fastest men's split on the Fire Station→Quarry segment, a sign that he wasn't just managing a lead — he was racing.

The real chase story unfolded behind him. Connor Rosenblatt held 2nd through the first half, with Alex Gold sitting 3rd. Then Gold flipped the script: he ran the fastest men's split of the second half, moving past Rosenblatt into 2nd by the midpoint and holding it to the line. Gold finished in 3:38:48; Rosenblatt crossed in 3:40:53. Gold ran the second half faster — Rosenblatt simply couldn't match the surge when it came. Rosenblatt did claim the fastest men's split on the HWY 49→Finish segment, a consolation that hints at a strong closer who just ran out of course.

Jamie Hunyor's 5th-place finish in 3:44:44 deserves its own spotlight. A year ago on this same course he crossed in 3:56:19 for 10th — today he was 11-and-a-half minutes faster and five places higher. That's not a minor tune-up; that's a different runner. Just behind the podium, Robert Ressl (4th, 3:43:31) quietly assembled one of the more composed races of the day, climbing from 6th early to 4th by the ALT→Goat Hill section, where he was the fastest man on that leg. The 148-finisher men's field rounded out with Jayson Hefner 6th in 3:55:31 and Jared Forman 7th in 4:03:42, the last man under four hours.