This holiday season, we celebrate the gift of so many breakthroughs posted by PDC athletes in 2025. Over 330 performances spread across the Bay Area, the country, and the world provided a number of exciting highlights and encouraging races for the year to come.

Weigel had two top 6 US Champs finishes in 2025

Our women’s CIM finishers and friends enjoyed a superlative morning

The Road to 2028 began at CIM
Sunday, December 7th started like any other day, but by 10am, our team had enjoyed a full year’s worth of outstanding marathon performances. 7 PDC athletes qualified for the 2028 US Olympic Marathon Trials, all with lifetime bests. Matt Lenehan hit 2:15 for his third consecutive OTQ, while Maya Weigel improved her lifetime best by four minutes for a club record at 2:28. Erin McDonald and Jenny Grimshaw lowered their times by 4 minutes to 2:32, Jen Odenheimer PR’ed by 2 minutes to 2:35, Izzi Gengaro advanced more than 3 minutes to 2:36 and Bridget Blum came down a full 8 minutes to narrowly dip under the 2:37 standard at 2:36. Carolyn Buchanan finished within a second of McDonald and Grimshaw to earn top-3 Canadian honors in 2025, while Zoe Baker fought through sickness to 2:38 and Sierra Brill debuted in a very promising 2:40. All told, PDC has had 13 women run 2:40 or better at least once since 2023, and this qualifying cycle has just begun.

MacQuiddy kicked for the podium at the US Cross 2K Champs

Strong National Championship Performances
After finishing 20th at the 2024 US Olympic Marathon Trials, Maya Weigel notched two top 10s on the roads in national competition this year. She closed hard for fifth at CIM, which also served as the 2025 US Marathon Championships, and took 6th in another club best time at the US 25K Championships in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Garrett MacQuiddy took full advantage of his debut post-collegiate national meet, timing his finish to maximum advantage. He earned a podium spot and first alternate status for 2026 Worlds at the US Cross Country Championships 2K trials in Portland. Claire Green held strong in a hot and humid USA Outdoors 10,000m to finish 9th in Eugene after a 16th place in the US road 5K champs, while Ero Doce earned his own top 10 finish in his first attempt at the Spanish Outdoor National Championships in Tarragona. He also came across in 15th place at the road 10K champs earlier this year. In European waters, Anna Tait represented Orkney in the International Island Games, winning 1500m bronze and 5000m silver medals in front of a roaring crowd on home soil in Scotland. A report on the US Club Cross Country Nationals will have to wait as this year’s edition was pushed to January in conjunction with the World Athletics Cross Country Championships, where Ethan Yan has been selected to represent Singapore. We also look forward to seeing Kyle Eller represent the Air Force in the Armed Forces Cross Country Championships.

Green and McDonald both set multiple lifetime bests in 2025

Individual Performances Highlight Cross Results
Newcomer Emmett Reynier and veteran Christine Hoffmann rode consistent performances throughout the fall to both win the 2025 Pacific Association USATF Cross Country Grand Prix crowns, the first time PDC has taken both titles. Ero Doce, the 2024 titlist, also had an individual win at the Matt Yeo Aggies meet. Claire Yerby made an immediate impact while winning the Golden Gate Open by over a minute (Garrett MacQuiddy won for the men at the same event) and becoming the 12th different individual PDC athlete to win the women’s crown at the PAUSATF Cross Country Championships. Trevor Halsted also earned 2026 comp status, while Carmen Mejia was top 15 overall and Dominic Robles 16th. Ken Valdez also raced to a top 5 individual result at the John Lawson Challenge. At the PA Championships, the women were second, with 5 scoring athletes in the top 11, while the men also earned runner-up honors while putting two full teams of 7 in the top 55 scoring places.

Doce’s excellent year included a top 10 at the Spanish Outdoor Nationals 5000m

Ripping it up on the Roads
Maya Weigel and Jen Odenheimer began the year in 8th and 15th (5th / 8th US) on a freezing and windy morning at the Chevron Houston Marathon before closing the year at CIM. Beyond the marathon, PDC also enjoyed quite a bit of progress on the roads at every distance. Ero Doce achieved both half marathon and 10K personal bests, running 63:46 to win the Monterey Bay Half 28:45 to set a new club best at the SinSon10K in Spain. He also won BOTH the 10K and 5K distances with a total time under 44 minutes at the Run to Feed the Hungry in Sacramento. Erin McDonald showed tremendous range, narrowly earning 2nd at the Ryan Shay Mile in 4:31, and winning the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon before her 2:32 26.2 at CIM. Jenny Grimshaw won the Napa Valley Marathon Half, Izzi Gengaro won the Santa Rosa Marathon Half, Sarah Johnson won the Nottingham Holme Run Half in the UK, and Faith Reynolds was third at the Clarksburg County Run, all in lifetime bests. Carolyn Buchanan hit a new lifetime best of 1:15 at Project 13.1 in March before taking a competitive 4th at the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon Half in October, and Zach Hine won the Steamboat Springs Half Marathon.

Claire Green dipped under 26:00 for a new PR and club best in a runner-up performance at the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle, and Garrett MacQuiddy moved up to the top spot at the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot, stopping the clock at 13:55. Chris Olley won the San Francisco Half 5K, took second at Bay to Breakers, and led the team with an individual win at the Alameda Hospital Foundation 10K. Rookie Vedang Lad also took home the individual and team title at the Cooper Teare Alameda Classic 8K with a co-ed supporting cast, before notching top 10s at the San Jose Rock ‘n’ Roll Half and Monterey Bay Half.

Reynolds broke the Tracksmith Twilight tape with a 5000m PR

PDC had four different women win PAUSATF Grand Prix road races (Reynolds, McDonald, Grimshaw, Weigel), including podium sweeps at the Danville Mile of Truth and the Impala Stampede 5K (as well as the San Francisco Half 10K with Holly Clarke, Grimshaw, and Buchanan), and a team victory at the Alameda Hospital 10K. Zoe Baker, JJ Escalera, Gengaro, Nelleke Gibson, Jen Odenheimer, Yuzki Oey, and Anna Tait all contributed solid scoring efforts. On the men’s side, Oli Langford was our top overall Grand Prix finisher in 15th.

Tom Tayeri enjoyed another year ascending podiums in his age group, including at the renowned Carlsbad 5000 and the Boston Marathon, in addition to scoring for the team at the Alameda 8K. Andrew Roos also hit top 10 at the PA XC Champs and won the 40+ at the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot, where Melinda DiNapoli also won her age group after the overall victory at the San Jose Rock ‘n’ Roll 10K. Our women’s team closed the year as Christmas Relays Champs.

It’s Almost Always Track Season
Claire Green’s 31:49 debut 10,000m mark in March was certainly a a key highlight of 2025, but many athletes achieved lifetime bests and bring that optimism for more into 2026. Beyond Anna Tait’s Island Games medals, Izzi Gengaro and Donald Taggart PR’ed in the 10,000m, Ero Doce in the 5000m, and Erin McDonald and Faith Reynolds in the 1500m (Faith also won the Tracksmith Twilight 5000 in a personal best). At the Marin Mile in June, our women earned 6 of the top 8 places, along with Chris Olley and Daniel Sealand in first and third for the men. They were paced by Joshua Sealand, who raced and paced all spring at the middle distances along with MD stalwarts Escalera and Mejia. He also helped the team to a debut silver at the Portland Track Festival co-ed 3000m race, racing as Team SFO. Showing tremendous range, McDonald raced every distance from the mile to the marathon, and Reynolds raced from the 800 to the half marathon.

Lenehan closed 2025 with 2:15 to book his 3rd OTQ

Trails and Tri
Zach Hine took home a trophy at the Grizzly Peak Half on the trails, while in the multi-sport scene, Kevin Bishop broke the 4 hour mark at the Augusta Ironman 70.3 and Andrea Cloarec was third French athlete across. We also enjoyed welcoming Tamara Jewett to the training group, who finished 2025 with a top 20 world ranking after a debut full Ironman season and a win at the Santa Cruz 70.3. While completing the Lake Placid full Ironman event in 8:55 overall, she split an incredible 2:40:05 for the full marathon.

Out of uniform, PDC was thrilled to have again supported Second Harvest of Silicon Valley with our sixth annual Miles for Meals week in November. This year, we raised $8175 to help our community. In May, we also welcomed a packed house to hear from double Olympic medalist and world record holder Grant Fisher at Backyard Benefit 4.0, made possible by the incredible hospitality of the DiNapoli family. Crucial community partners such as Tracksmith, SMI, and Agile PT have kept our team on the roads, track, and trails all year long, and our Backyard Benefit sponsors, led by DevCon Construction, Eternal, and the Araya / Packel family, along with a long list of outstanding raffle contributors, have allowed us to continue seeking ambitious goals in the competitive arena. This year, we were also able to bring on long-time member Caitlin Chrisman as additional coaching support at training.

As the calendar turns to 2026, we are incredibly enthusiastic about the season to come and encouraged about our 2025 results. We hope to have your support alongside the track and race course, and if your year end giving includes a desire to help our athletes find their potential in the years to come, we would be grateful for your support here.

Pics: Steven Anderson (Macquiddy: Audrey Allen)