Boston Marathon M65-69: Paul Huyer Runs Away from a Deep Field

• Paul Huyer won the M65-69 group in 2:58:27 (6:48/mi) — the only finisher in the field to break three hours.
• Runner-up Dave Walters finished in 3:12:01, a gap of 13:34 back — one of the widest winning margins in the top of the field.
• Places 2 through 8 were separated by just 5:47, from Walters' 3:12:01 down to Thomas Amend's 3:17:48.
• A field of 617 finishers made this one of the deepest age groups on the Hopkinton-to-Copley Square course.

Paul Huyer's performance was the defining story of the M65-69 race at the 128th Boston Marathon. The Ontario runner crossed the finish line in 2:58:27 — a 6:48-per-mile clip that put more than thirteen and a half minutes between him and everyone else in his age group. His moves data tell the story of a man who ran with purpose from the start: he was already climbing steadily through the men's field at every checkpoint, moving from 4,655th among men at the first checkpoint all the way up to 2,367th by the finish. That kind of sustained forward momentum through Newton Hills and over Heartbreak Hill is not a coincidence — it's a race plan executed cleanly.

Behind Huyer, the real competition was a tight cluster fighting for the podium. Dave Walters of Illinois claimed second in 3:12:01 (7:19/mi) and showed his own late strength, posting the 2,297th-fastest split in the field on the 40K-to-finish segment. Benny Melnitcki was just 51 seconds further back in third at 3:12:52 (7:21/mi), though his closing split on that same segment was slower — Walters made up real ground there. Fourth-place Michael Brosilow (3:15:19) and fifth-place Jeff Lindsey (3:17:14) rounded out the top five, with Lindsey notably fading slightly late — his men's field position actually slipped between the 21-mile and finish checkpoints, a sign the closing miles extracted their toll.

Places 6 through 10 were a genuine pack race. Manuel Paterna Reina (3:17:25), Andre Bennatan (3:17:38), Thomas Amend (3:17:48), John Potts (3:19:06), and Alan Miller (3:19:57) were separated by just 2:32 across five finishers — a testament to how competitive the M65-69 field was on a cool, humid Patriots' Day. With 617 finishers in the age group, the depth stretched well beyond the top 20, making Huyer's sub-3:00 effort all the more striking against the backdrop of one of the World Marathon Majors' most storied courses.