M80-84 at Peachtree: Braley Runs Away with It

• James Braley, 81, won M80-84 in 53:19 — an 8:35/mi average that put more than five and a half minutes between him and second place.
• The podium gap was steep: Mike Simonson finished 2nd in 58:50, Mohanjit Sidhu 3rd in 1:00:22 — a span of nearly seven minutes from 1st to 3rd.
• Places 3 through 6 were a genuine battle: Sidhu (1:00:22), Gerard Keeley (1:00:57), Seongbae Kim (1:01:26), and Jake Hegarty (1:01:33) were separated by just 71 seconds across four finishers.
• 93 men finished M80-84 on a warm, humid Fourth of July morning in Atlanta — a remarkable turnout at this end of the age spectrum.

James Braley made the M80-84 race his own from early on. His 8:35/mi pace was in a different register from the rest of the field, and his move data tells the story: he was steadily working through the broader men's field across the middle miles, then surged back through it on the closing stretch. By the finish, the gap to second place was 5:31 — not a close race at the top, but a dominant one.

Mike Simonson of Maggie Valley, NC ran a strong second, finishing in 58:50 at 9:28/mi. What stands out in his race is a sustained climb through the men's field over the final miles — he was moving forward when others were fading in the Atlanta heat and humidity, posting his best relative split on the 5M-to-finish segment.

The real drama in M80-84 played out in the fight for 3rd through 6th. Mohanjit Sidhu (Johns Creek), Gerard Keeley (Marietta), Seongbae Kim (Suwanee), and Jake Hegarty (Duluth) ran essentially together for much of the race. Kim, 82, was particularly aggressive in the middle miles, climbing steadily through the broader field from mile one onward, but Sidhu and Keeley held their positions. In the end, just 71 seconds covered those four finishers — the tightest cluster of the entire M80-84 field.

Further back, Richard Needle of Minneapolis — the oldest finisher listed at 84 — crossed in 1:20:48, a 13:00/mi effort that earned him 13th in M80-84. On a humid holiday morning, 93 men in their eighties finished a 10K through the streets of Atlanta. That alone is worth noting.