M60-69 at Jed Smith Ultra Classic 50K: Pommier dominates, Blakeney and Shijo grind it out

• Jean Pommier won the M60-69 group in 4:04:17 — a 7:52/mi average across 31 miles in cold, wet conditions.
• Charles Blakeney claimed 2nd in 5:58:21, finishing nearly two hours back of Pommier.
• Mark Shijo, 67, rounded out the three-man group in 8:31:41 — over four and a half hours behind the winner.
• Pommier posted the 4th-fastest split among the women on the Out & Back into Lap 1 segment — a benchmark that underscores just how strong his early pace was relative to the broader field.

Three finishers in the M60-69 group at the 2025 Jed Smith Ultra Classic, and the story was Jean Pommier from start to finish. Running in 51°F temperatures with light rain and a 14 mph wind, the 60-year-old from Cupertino held a 7:52/mi average over 31 miles — a clip that would be impressive in dry conditions, let alone a soggy February morning in Sacramento. He was never seriously challenged within his age group, and his pace on the Out & Back into Lap 1 was swift enough to rank 4th among all women on that segment, giving a sense of just how comfortably he was moving through the early miles.

Charles Blakeney, 62, of Oakland, settled into his own race and held it together for a 5:58:21 finish at 11:32/mi — earning 2nd in the M60-69 group. He was notably efficient on the Lap 4 into Lap 5 segment, posting the 15th-fastest split among the women on that stretch, a sign he was still finding something late in the race when others were fading.

Mark Shijo, the oldest in the group at 67 and a Sacramento local, completed all 50 kilometers in 8:31:41 — 16:28/mi — and crossed the line 25th among the men at that checkpoint. Finishing a 50K at any pace in those conditions deserves acknowledgment, and Shijo did exactly that, holding a steady position throughout and never dropping off the back of the race entirely.