Boilermaker 15K M60-64: Putney Pulls Away for a Convincing Win

• David Putney (1st, 58:29 / 6:16/mi) is the only finisher in the M60-64 field to break the hour mark, winning by more than two minutes over runner-up Peter Pazik.
• Peter Pazik (2nd, 1:00:43 / 6:31/mi) edges the podium battle, finishing 2:18 ahead of Ed Menis and holding off a tight 3rd-vs-4th duel.
• Ed Menis (3rd, 1:03:01 / 6:46/mi) and Sheldon Degenhardt (4th, 1:03:11 / 6:47/mi) are separated by just 10 seconds — Menis surging through the middle miles to secure the final podium spot.
• 201 finishers completed the 15K in the M60-64 field, with the top 20 ranging from 58:29 down to 1:16:02.

David Putney of Newport, NY, turned in the dominant performance of the M60-64 race on a humid Utica morning — 64°F but 82% humidity made the effort feel heavier than the temperature suggests. Running 6:16 per mile across 9.3 miles, Putney was the only man in the field to crack an hour, and his moves tell the story of someone who ran controlled and strong: he tracked in the 212th position among men through the first 5K, steadily worked forward to 208th by 10K, and closed at 201st — a clean, progressive effort all the way to the line.

Peter Pazik of Wallingford, CT made a similar forward push, moving from 306th among men at 5K to 288th by the finish in 1:00:43. But the real drama of the day was the fight for third. Ed Menis (Schenectady, NY) and Sheldon Degenhardt (Fairport, NY), both 61, ran nearly stride for stride — Menis finishing in 1:03:01 at 6:46/mi, Degenhardt just 10 seconds back in 1:03:11 at 6:47/mi. Menis had the stronger middle segment, moving from 410th to 372nd among men between 5K and 10K; Degenhardt ran a similar arc but couldn't quite close the gap Menis had opened.

Fifth through eighth saw Patrick Hooey of Toronto (5th, 1:05:21), Jim Figler of Orchard Park (6th, 1:05:44), Michael Morrissey of Queensbury (7th, 1:06:12), and John Sestito of Johnsonville (8th, 1:06:46) — a tight cluster spread across just 85 seconds. Notably, Hooey's moves showed a slight fade in the back half, slipping from 467th among men at 5K to 496th by the finish, the only top-five finisher to lose ground late. Richard Jordan (9th, 1:08:37) and Christopher Durr (10th, 1:09:09) rounded out the top ten for a 201-strong M60-64 field that brought serious racing depth to the streets of Utica.