Fort Ord 10K M70-79: Tiffany Takes the Age Group in a Two-Man Showdown

• Jim Tiffany (71, Seaside) won the M70-79 age group in 1:02:51, averaging 10:07 per mile across the trails.
• Patrick McNeill (79, Monterey) finished 2nd in 1:26:19 — a gap of 23:28 between the only two finishers in the group.
• Tiffany posted the 36th-fastest Skyline→Finish split among the men, while McNeill clocked the 52nd-fastest on that same closing stretch.
• At 79, McNeill is the elder statesman of the pair — eight years Tiffany's senior and still covering 10K of Fort Ord singletrack at 13:53 per mile.

The M70-79 age group at Fort Ord's 10K was a two-man affair, and Jim Tiffany made it his from the start. The 71-year-old from Seaside crossed the line in 1:02:51, a brisk 10:07-per-mile effort through the sandy, rolling trails of Fort Ord on a cool, breezy February morning. There was no drama at the top — Tiffany was in command.

Patrick McNeill, eight years Tiffany's senior at 79, is the real story worth lingering on. Finishing in 1:26:19 at a 13:53-per-mile clip, McNeill completed a legitimate 10K trail race in conditions that would keep most people his age on the couch — 85% humidity, a 13 mph wind, and terrain that doesn't forgive. That's worth more than a footnote.

On the Skyline→Finish segment, the closing stretch that often separates those who paced well from those who didn't, Tiffany held his form with the 36th-fastest split among the men. McNeill came in 52nd on that same leg — both men finishing what they started, which at this level of the age spectrum is the whole point.

Two finishers, 23 minutes between them, and a combined age of 150. Fort Ord's M70-79 group didn't need a crowd to make it count.