M70-74 Half Marathon: Lemmon runs away with it in San Francisco

• Gil Lemmon (Dublin, CA) won the M70-74 field in 2:02:46 at a 9:22/mi pace — nearly 17 minutes clear of second place.
• Ray Abraham (2:19:39) and Mack Roach III (2:19:50) staged a tight battle for the runner-up spot, separated by just 11 seconds at the line.
• Balbir Chohan, 73, finished 4th in 2:21:01, only 1:11 behind Abraham and Roach's duel.
• Seven men aged 70–74 completed the San Francisco Half Marathon on July 28, 2024.

Gil Lemmon, 70, of Dublin, CA, turned in a commanding performance across the M70-74 field. His 2:02:46 finish at a 9:22/mi clip wasn't just a win — it was a statement. Lemmon was steadily climbing through the men's field as the race wore on, moving from 1,456th among men at the first checkpoint all the way to 1,099th by the finish, and he posted a strong closing split on the 10.65M-to-finish stretch. No one in this group came close to matching his pace.

Behind Lemmon, the real drama unfolded in the battle for second. Ray Abraham, 71, of Walnut Creek, CA, and Mack Roach III, 70, of San Francisco, CA, ran the back half of the race in near-lockstep. Abraham clocked 2:19:39 and Roach crossed in 2:19:50 — 11 seconds the difference after 13.1 miles. Abraham had the stronger 7.12M-to-10.65M split, while Roach was moving through the men's field more aggressively in the early miles; ultimately Abraham held on for second. Balbir Chohan, 73, of Surrey, BC, finished 4th in 2:21:01, closing well on the final stretch and making up ground on the field late, but the gap to Abraham and Roach proved just too large to bridge.

Jaime Ordonez, 74, of Pleasanton, CA — the oldest finisher in the group — came home 5th in 2:55:09 at a 13:22/mi pace. Kanny Liu, 73, of Arcadia, CA, was 6th in 3:08:01, and Barry Schneider, 70, of Santa Monica, CA, rounded out the seven with a 3:41:48 finish. All seven men crossed the line in San Francisco, which, at any age, is worth the trip.