M60-69 Ascent: Houghton edges Kirby in a nine-second thriller at the top of Tahoe

• Rob Houghton, 68, wins the M60-69 field of 18 in 38:50 — averaging 17:51/mi up a course that climbs to nearly 8,000 feet.
• Nine seconds separated 1st from 2nd; Houghton and Kirby ran nearly identical races until the final Snow King→Finish segment, where Houghton's split edged Kirby's by the slimmest of margins.
• Shawn Scholl, 60, was the youngest man on the podium and the only finisher to slip a place on the closing segment, dropping from 147th to 154th among men on Snow King→Finish — but his 42:06 still put him more than two minutes clear of 4th.
• A four-minute gap opens between 3rd (42:06) and 4th (44:22), then the field compresses again: Deacon and Sealand were separated by just one second at the line.

Rob Houghton, 68 years old and based in Murphys, CA, took the M60-69 title on a morning that offered thin air at elevation, 17 mph winds, and bone-dry 19% humidity — conditions that punish anyone who goes out too hard. He didn't. Running at 17:51/mi on a course that tops out near 7,964 feet, Houghton held his men's field position steady through the race, moving from 114th to 113th among men on the closing segment. That composure was the difference.

Richard Kirby of Heber City, UT made it genuinely close. His 38:59 — nine seconds back — reflected a nearly identical race plan, and he actually gained three men's field places on the closing segment (122nd to 119th), suggesting he finished with something in the tank. The split data tells the story: Houghton posted the 116th-fastest closing split among men, Kirby the 113th. Kirby was quicker on that final pitch — but Houghton had already banked enough of a cushion earlier to hold on.

Shawn Scholl's 42:06 made the podium look comfortable from the outside, but the 60-year-old from Kremmling, CO — racing at altitude not far from home elevation — faded slightly on the Snow King→Finish stretch. It cost him a few men's field spots, though not the podium. Behind him, Gary Deacon and Wes Sealand staged the race's other micro-drama: 44:22 to 44:23, one second apart at the finish line, with Deacon holding 4th.

The back of the field spread wide. David Barkan, Dave Tight, and Peter Fish clustered around the 51-minute mark, while the final four finishers ranged from 1:03 to a determined 1:44:59 from Randy Salzman of Olympic Valley — who, notably, races on home turf and still had to earn every one of those 48-plus minutes per mile on that mountain.