Fort Ord Trail Run F70-79: Karen Park Wins in a Class of Her Own

• Karen Park covered the 10K at 13:47/mi to finish in 1:25:40 — more than 21 minutes clear of second place.
• Gallena Quinalty, 76, came home in 1:47:37, edging Harumi Nishijima by over 10 minutes for the runner-up spot.
• On the Skyline→Finish segment, Park posted the 72nd-fastest women's split, Quinalty the 78th, and Nishijima the 81st — the group holding its internal order to the line.

Three women in their seventies toed the line at Fort Ord on a cool, breezy February morning, and Karen Park wasted no time making her intentions clear. The 72-year-old from King City ran a composed 13:47/mi through the trails and finished in 1:25:40 — a margin of more than 21 minutes over her nearest competitor. That gap isn't a close race; it's a statement.

Behind Park, the battle for second was a quieter affair decided more by endurance than any late surge. Gallena Quinalty, the field's eldest at 76, ran steadily at 17:19/mi to cross in 1:47:37. Harumi Nishijima, the youngest of the three at 70, actually started the final Skyline→Finish segment ahead of Quinalty in the women's field standings — sitting 76th to Quinalty's 80th — but faded over that closing stretch, finishing 80th among women to Quinalty's 77th. Nishijima crossed in 1:58:03, just shy of the two-hour mark, at a pace of 18:60/mi.

All three finishers held their internal order through the Skyline→Finish segment, with split ranks of 72nd, 78th, and 81st among women respectively — a tidy reflection of how the race played out from start to finish. In a small but determined F70-79 field, Park's performance was the clear headline, but every finisher who navigates Fort Ord's trails at 70-plus deserves recognition on its own terms.