M80+ at Boston: Kumei Leads a Field of Ten Across Copley Square

• Sukeyuki Kumei won the M80+ age group in 4:20:49 (9:57/mi), finishing nearly 10 minutes clear of the field.
• Myung Joon Kim (CA) ran 4:30:30 for 2nd, with Christopher Gould (NC) close behind in 4:36:36 for 3rd.
• The top four were separated by just under 24 minutes; the back half of the field spread across a 33-minute window from 5th to 10th.
• Eight and nine were decided by a mere 24 seconds: Roger Barker (ON) crossed in 5:24:41, Chihoon Lee (FL) in 5:25:05.

Ten men aged 80 and older toed the line in Hopkinton on Patriots' Day — and every one of them made it to Copley Square. That alone is worth noting at the 128th Boston Marathon, one of the six World Marathon Majors, on a point-to-point course that doesn't soften for anyone, Newton Hills and Heartbreak Hill included. The conditions were reasonable — 55°F, a light 5 mph wind, humidity hovering at 80% — but the miles are the miles.

Sukeyuki Kumei ran the most controlled race in the M80+ group. His gender-place progression — moving from 11,963rd to 11,470th across the checkpoints — shows a steady, patient advance through the field as others faded around him. He averaged 9:57 per mile from Hopkinton to Boston, and his margin at the finish was a commanding 9:41 over Myung Joon Kim. Kim (CA) was the stronger finisher of the two chasers, coming in at 4:30:30, while Christopher Gould (NC) rounded out the podium in 4:36:36, also making up ground in the back half of the race.

Frank Bright (LA) was the story of the middle pack, running 4:44:48 for 4th with a notably strong 23M–24M split — one of the better late-race segments in the age group. Vladimir Savic, in 5th at 4:54:37, had the reverse experience: after opening with a strong gender-place position in the 12,000s, he slipped back through the checkpoints before steadying late. Seongbae Kim (GA) came home 6th in 4:56:41, and Gary Goaslind (UT) 7th in 5:06:19.

At the back, the race tightened up. Barker and Lee ran nearly identical final stretches — 5:24:41 and 5:25:05 — with just 24 seconds deciding 8th and 9th. Tyson Park (CA) closed out the M80+ field in 5:29:53, 12:35 per mile, finishing every step of the Boston Marathon at 80-plus years old.