M65-69: Harper Runs Away from the Field at Run the Parkway

• Michael Harper won the M65-69 group in 2:50:10 (8:30/mi), finishing more than 28 minutes clear of second place.
• Mansour Monem took second in 3:18:57, with George Carter third in 3:32:27 — a 13-and-a-half-minute gap between them.
• The spread from first to last across all seven finishers was 1:42:01, reflecting a wide range of paces from 8:30 to 13:37 per mile.
• Brian Bronson, Jeff Olson, and Milt Gee were separated by just under 30 minutes across 4th through 6th, while Robert Bardini rounded out the group in 7th.

Seven men aged 65–69 toed the line in Folsom on a warm November morning — 74°F with broken clouds — and Michael Harper made it look like a different race entirely. The Roseville 67-year-old ran 8:30 per mile across 20 miles, steadily moving through the broader men's field from 134th at the first checkpoint all the way to 111th by the finish. That kind of sustained forward momentum over a warm 20-miler is no accident.

Behind Harper, the real contest was for second. Mansour Monem of Auburn held that spot comfortably, clocking 3:18:57 at a 9:57/mi clip and improving his position among the men's field throughout the race — climbing from 217th early to 201st at the finish. George Carter of Rocklin ran a steady 10:37/mi to claim third in 3:32:27, also moving forward as the race wore on.

The back half of the M65-69 group was spread across nearly an hour of race time. Bronson (3:52:14), Olson (4:10:49), Gee (4:21:39), and Bardini (4:32:11) each finished on their own terms, with Bardini crossing more than 1:42 after Harper. In a 20-mile race on a warm day, simply finishing is its own statement — and all seven did exactly that.