Jed Smith Ultra Classic 50K: Pommier dominates M60-69 with a blistering pace

• Jean Pommier won the M60-69 group in 3:43:18 — a 7:11/mi average over 31 miles in the Sacramento fog.
• Pommier posted the 3rd-fastest Lap 1→Lap 2 split in the men's field, the decisive early move that put the race away.
• Charles Blakeney held 2nd in 5:45:25, finishing over two hours back — a gap that illustrates just how dominant Pommier's effort was.
• A tight battle for 3rd: Nattu Natraj (6:08:18) edged John Nichols (7:35:10), with Natraj gaining ground late — moving from 32nd to 26th among men across the final legs.

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Four men lined up for M60-69 at the Jed Smith Ultra Classic, and Jean Pommier wasted no time making the outcome clear. Running at 7:11 per mile — a pace that would be honest work for runners half his age — the 61-year-old from Cupertino was already 4th among all men after the first checkpoint and never budged from that position for the rest of the race. His Lap 1→Lap 2 split ranked 3rd fastest in the men's field, a burst of speed that set the tone for everything that followed.

Behind Pommier, the race settled into its own quieter drama. Charles Blakeney of Oakland ran a steady 11:07/mi to claim 2nd in 5:45:25, though the two-hour-plus gap to the winner tells the story plainly. The real competition for the final podium spot played out between Nattu Natraj (Auburn, CA) and John Nichols (Sacramento). Natraj, running 11:51/mi, showed his best running late — his Lap 5 split into the finish ranked among the stronger efforts in the men's field, and he climbed from 32nd to 26th among men in the closing miles, crossing in 6:08:18.

Nichols, also 61, had a tougher afternoon. He slid steadily through the men's standings across the back half of the race, finishing in 7:35:10 at a 14:39/mi pace. In the damp 50°F fog along the Sacramento course, simply finishing a 50K is its own accomplishment — and all four men in M60-69 did exactly that.