Broken Arrow 23K M70-79: Creech Stands Alone at the Summit

• Sole finisher: Michael Creech, 70, completed the Broken Arrow 23K in 4:43:58 — the only M70-79 finisher on the day.
• Strong finish: Creech moved from 559th to 474th among men by the penultimate checkpoint, a steady climb through the field over the course of the race.
• Snow King→KT split: His split on that segment ranked 422nd among women — a useful cross-reference point for the pace he was carrying late in the race.
• Course demands: The route climbs to nearly 8,834 ft above sea level — meaningful thin-air territory for anyone, and a genuine test of endurance at any age.

There is something clarifying about a field of one. Michael Creech, 70, of Cupertino, CA, toed the line as the only M70-79 entrant in the 2026 Broken Arrow 23K and did what was required: he finished, crossing in 4:43:58 at a 19:52/mi average across a mountain course that ranges from 6,206 to 8,834 feet above sea level. That is not a Sunday jog — that is a sustained effort through genuinely thin air, on technical Tahoe terrain, on a clear June morning.

What makes Creech's run worth examining beyond the simple fact of completion is the arc he traced through the broader field. He entered the tracking data at 559th among men and worked his way steadily forward, reaching 474th by the fifth checkpoint — a net gain of 85 places across the bulk of the race. That kind of patient, progressive movement through a field suggests disciplined pacing rather than an early blowup and survival march.

He did fade slightly in the closing stretch, slipping back to 491st among men by the finish, which is a common pattern on a course that saves some of its bite for the end. His Snow King→KT split — benchmarked at 422nd among women in the field — gives a sense of where his pace landed on that particular segment: solidly in the mix, not at the back.

With no one else in M70-79 to measure against, Creech's result stands on its own terms: a 70-year-old completing a high-altitude mountain race at Palisades Tahoe. The category was his. He earned it.