M85-89 at Peachtree: Eric Goode Leads a Field of Legends to the Finish Line

• Eric Goode, 87, won the M85-89 race in 1:18:49 (12:41/mi), finishing more than 22 minutes clear of runner-up Charles Nelson.
• Positions 3 and 4 were razor-close: Robert Ervin (1:44:16) and Michael Kay (1:44:44) were separated by just 28 seconds across 6.2 miles.
• Ronald Starker, 89, was the oldest finisher to crack the 2-hour mark, crossing in 2:00:59 — ahead of two fellow 86-year-olds.
• All 16 men finished on a warm, humid Fourth of July morning in Atlanta.

Sixteen men aged 85 to 89 toed the line at the Peachtree Road Race, and every single one of them crossed the finish. On a muggy Atlanta morning — 75°F, 68% humidity — that is no small thing. Eric Goode of Marietta made it look almost comfortable, running 12:41 per mile at age 87 to win in 1:18:49. His margin over second place was 22 minutes and 11 seconds, a gap that tells you everything about how dominant his day was from start to finish.

Behind Goode, Charles Nelson of Atlanta claimed second in 1:41:00, with Robert Ervin and Michael Kay staging the race's most compelling battle for the final podium spot. Ervin, of Stone Mountain, edged Kay of Sandy Springs by 28 seconds — 1:44:16 to 1:44:44 — after more than an hour and forty minutes of racing. Kay's move data shows him sliding back through the field between miles 0–2 before largely holding steady; Ervin, meanwhile, made consistent forward progress through the middle miles before fading only slightly at the end.

Neil Mccarthy rounded out the top five in 1:49:25, and Kenneth Crull, Patrick Abbott, and Charles Logan filled out a tight cluster between 1:51 and 1:59. Then came perhaps the day's most quietly impressive performance: Ronald Starker of Prattville, Alabama — 89 years old — finished 9th in 2:00:59, breaking two hours and beating two 86-year-olds in the process. John Howard and David Ewert, also 89, completed the course as well, with James Crawford of Clermont bringing it home last in 3:13:53. On the Fourth of July, in Atlanta heat, every single one of them finished. That's the story.