On Sunday, December 4, Futsum Zeinasellassie and Paige Stoner were crowned men’s and women’s USATF national marathon champions respectively, at the California International Marathon (CIM) in Sacramento, California.
Zeinasellassie debuted at the distance, winning in 2:11:01—the third-fastest time ever run on the point-to-point course. Stoner surpassed the previous women’s course record by 51 seconds, clocking a time of 2:26:02.
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Brendan Gregg goes for broke while the pack tries to reel him in
Defending men’s champion and Sacramento-area native Brendan Gregg broke away from the pack early in an attempt to run a fast time in ideal marathon conditions: mid-40 Fahrenheit temperatures and low wind. Gregg crossed the half marathon mark in 1:04:42—under 5:00 per mile pace—43 seconds ahead of the chase pack that included Ed Goddard, Zeinasellassie, Jacob Thomson, Daniel Mesfun, and Joel Reichow.
As the latter half of the race played out, Gregg began to fade as the chase pack gained ground. By 30K, Gregg was in their sights. Just 5K later, seven men had passed him as his pace slowed to the 5:30s.
Zeinasellassie surged at 23 miles, and put 40 seconds on second-placer Jacob Thomson by 40K. While that amount of time all but guaranteed him the victory, Zeinasellassie slowed significantly in the final few hundred meters, even vomiting mid-stride. Thomson crossed the line in just under a minute later for second in 2:11:52. Joel Reichow rounded out the podium with his 2:12:11 finish.
Paige Stoner asserts herself as a rising marathon star
From early on in the women’s race, spectators could clearly see a duel between Paige Stoner and Lauren Goss taking shape. By 15K, the two women had already broken away from the pack to duke it out over long stretch of miles remaining.
Each woman had a compelling story. After retiring from professional triathlons in 2019 due to an anti-doping suspension for THC, Goss transitioned to distance running. She ran a slew of personal bests on the track this year and a 1:09:46 half marathon from November 5. Running alongside Stoner, Goss was in the midst of her debut marathon.
Stoner was a standout runner at Syracuse University, where she specialized in the steeplechase. She made her marathon debut in 2020, but did not see the same success she had on the track. After qualifying for the previous two U.S. championships in the 10,000 meters, Stoner was looking to make a statement at CIM. So between 30K and 35K, Stoner put 30 seconds on Goss, and the gap only widened from there. Stoner ran a personal best of 2:26:02 to win in a course record time, while Goss completed her debut in an impressive 2:27:41 for second. Elaina Tabb finished third in 2:28:04.
The prize money
On top of the USATF marathon championships payday, CIM also offered prize money for course records and Olympic Trials qualifiers.
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- 1st - $20,000
- 2nd - $10,000
- 3rd - $7,000
- 4th - $3,000
- 5th - $1,500
- 6th - $1,000
- 7th - $800
- 8th - $700
- 9th - $600
- 10th - $400
Course records earned $3,000. Olympic Trials qualifiers earned a $500 bonus, capped at $30,000 total and prorated if more than 60 athletes bested the standards
Chris Hatler is a writer and editor based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but before joining Runner’s World and Bicycling, he was a pro runner for Diadora, qualifying for multiple U.S. Championships in the 1500 meters. At his alma mater the University of Pennsylvania, Chris was a multiple-time Ivy League conference champion and sub-4 minute miler.
