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Near the end of Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Kylo Ren chases after Finn and Rey right before the lightsaber battle. As they run they are looking behind to see if he is chasing after them and are surprised when they run into him in front of them.
How the heck did he get in front of them? They are surprised by this as well so there's something to it.
While it's unlikely we'll attain some sort of directly stated reason, one that could be inferred would be: his incredibly mastery of the Force and the powers it can provide.
Throughout the film we've seen him wielding immense control of his ability to use the Force, from delving into the minds of others to even stopping a blaster bolt in midair, which we'd never seen on film before.
One ability that has been shown is the ability to run away quickly by using the Force, known as Force Speed. Qui Gon Jinn and Obi-wan used this ability early in Episode I to escape from Droidekas that were attacking them.
As such, it's possible to assume it was Kylo's sheer mastery of the Force that allowed him to get ahead of them so quickly.
Rey and Finn were high up in that structure, as shown by the long ladder they had to climb. Kylo Ren was on a much lower level. While not shown on-screen, it's understandable that he could get a pretty good head start into the forest while Finn and Rey were still climbing down the ladder.
