M75-79 at CIM 2021: Kim Leads Nine Septuagenarians Through Sacramento

• Myung joon Kim, 78, wins M75-79 in 4:01:01 — a 9:12/mi average across 26.2 miles in mild, partly cloudy conditions.
• Jimmy McCullough takes 2nd in 4:27:14, finishing 26 minutes and 13 seconds behind Kim — the largest gap between any two consecutive podium spots.
• John Ishikawa completes the podium in 3rd at 4:35:32, traveling from Honolulu to claim his spot among nine finishers in the M75-79 group.
• A 3-hour, 8-minute spread separates Kim's winning 4:01:01 from Donald Johnston's 9th-place 7:09:16 — a testament to the range of performance across this age group.

Myung joon Kim of Los Angeles set the pace from the gun and never let go. Running at 9:12 per mile, the 78-year-old steadily moved through the broader men's field as the race progressed — climbing from 3,277th among men at the earliest checkpoint all the way to 2,909th by the 30K-to-40K stretch before settling at 2,941st at the finish. That sustained forward momentum over the final third of the race tells the story of a runner who paced smartly and finished strong.

Jimmy McCullough of Mount Shasta held 2nd place throughout, clocking 4:27:14 at 10:12/mi, while John Ishikawa made the trip from Honolulu worthwhile with a 4:35:32 and 3rd place. The gap between McCullough and Ishikawa was just under nine minutes — tight enough to keep the podium interesting. Ted Stevens of Citrus Heights was the only other finisher under five hours, crossing in 4th at 5:00:42.

The back half of the field told a different kind of story. Steven Polansky (5th, 5:35:57), Delbert Giese (6th, 5:50:43), Timothy Hicks (7th, 6:01:49), and Edward Pease (8th, 6:18:33) each navigated the full 26.2 miles at their own measured tempo. Donald Johnston of Clovis closed out the nine-man group in 9th at 7:09:16 — 16:22 per mile and every step of it earned. On a cool December morning in Sacramento, all nine men in their mid-to-late 70s finished a marathon. That's the real headline.