M70-79 at Broken Arrow 18K: Dombrovski Dominates a Fierce Mountain Test

• George Dombrovski, 73, won M70-79 in 3:50:49 (20:38/mi avg), finishing more than 31 minutes clear of the field.
• Dave McNaughton, 74, took 2nd in 4:22:00 — edging Tim Stanley by over 14 minutes for the runner-up spot.
• Tim Stanley and Robert Chacon, both 70, rounded out the four-man field in 4:36:29 and 5:06:35 respectively — a 30-minute gap separating 3rd from 4th.
• The full M70-79 field covered a course climbing from roughly 6,200 to 8,820 feet — thin air that makes every minute earned feel like two.

George Dombrovski didn't just win M70-79 at Broken Arrow — he turned it into a statement. The 73-year-old from Fairfax, CA, crossed in 3:50:49, averaging 20:38 per mile across a course that spends most of its life above 7,500 feet. What's more, he was moving through the broader men's field as the race wore on, climbing from 224th among men at the opening checkpoint all the way to 191st by High Camp — a sustained push through the heart of the race. He gave back a handful of places on the final stretch to finish 198th among men, but the damage to his M70-79 rivals was already done long before the finish line.

Behind him, Dave McNaughton made the 74-year-old journey from Defiance, MO, look anything but defensive. He held steady through the middle of the race and finished 2nd in 4:22:00 — a respectable 23:26/mi on terrain that punishes anyone who underestimates the altitude. Tim Stanley, the youngest of the podium finishers at 70, came home 3rd in 4:36:29 after a mid-race surge from 240th to 230th among men between Siberia and High Camp hinted at a challenge that ultimately didn't materialize at the front.

Robert Chacon, also 70 and from Dublin, CA, closed out the four-man field in 5:06:35. His trajectory among the men's field was consistent if not climbing — he ran the back half of the race much as he ran the front, a steady effort across a demanding mountain course that, at nearly two miles above sea level, asks hard questions of every finisher regardless of age. All four men who started M70-79 finished — no small thing on a day like this.