BMW Berlin Marathon M75-79: Ronald Cattle Runs Away With It

• Cattle wins in 4:05:25 (9:22/mi), finishing more than 22 minutes clear of runner-up Graham Goff — a dominant margin in a 59-man field.
• Bob Teasdale's late charge: entered the 35K–40K segment ranked deep in the men's field and clawed his way to 3rd, finishing at 4:35:28.
• Tightest battle of the day: Rao (5th, 4:35:58) and Teasdale (3rd, 4:35:28) finished just 30 seconds apart, with Flowers (7th, 4:39:26) and Lykkegaard (6th, 4:45:56) not far behind — four men separated by roughly 10 minutes across positions 3 through 7.
• 59 men aged 75–79 finished one of the world's great marathons — a remarkable collective achievement.

Ronald Cattle set the standard from the front, running 9:22/mi across 26.2 miles to post 4:05:25. That's a time that would be impressive at any age, and in the M75-79 group it was untouchable. His gender place climbed from 12,520 at the 5K checkpoint to a peak of 11,206 at 10K before settling back as the race wore on — a sign he went out with purpose and held most of it together across the full distance.

Graham Goff was a clear second at 4:27:49 (10:13/mi), but the real drama unfolded behind him. Bob Teasdale was the day's biggest mover, sitting well outside the top 30,000 men through the first half of the race before reeling in competitor after competitor. His 35K–40K split was among the stronger ones on that segment, and he crossed the line at 4:35:28 to claim 3rd. Kumar Swami Rao (5th, 4:35:58) finished just 30 seconds back despite running a notably different race — quicker through the early checkpoints but fading in the second half.

The middle of the M75-79 field was closely packed, with seven men finishing between 4:35 and 4:48. Hans Magnar Lien (4th, 4:47:41) and John Du Feu (8th, 4:47:57) were separated by just 16 seconds. Further back, 39 more finishers completed the course, a testament to the depth and determination in this age group on the streets of Berlin.