M75-79: Ulloa Leads a Four-Man Charge Through San Francisco

• Bob Ulloa won M75-79 in 5:38:54 (12:56/mi), finishing nearly 29 minutes clear of runner-up Roy Chen.
• Roy Chen (6:07:43) and Joe Cordova (6:10:54) staged the race's closest battle — just 3 minutes 11 seconds separated 2nd from 3rd.
• Wilford Smith completed all 26.2 miles in 7:30:42, the only finisher in the group to average slower than 15:00/mi.

Four men in their mid-to-late seventies toed the line at the San Francisco Marathon on a cool, breezy morning — 59°F and 15 mph winds off the Bay — and every single one of them finished. Bob Ulloa, 76, of Porterville, set the tone early. His gender place tracking tells the story of a man who ran his own race and gradually ceded ground to the sheer volume of the field: he moved from 3,069th among men at the first checkpoint to 4,500th by the finish, a drift that reflects the marathon's massive field catching up rather than any fade in Ulloa's resolve. He crossed in 5:38:54 at a 12:56/mi clip — the clear standard-bearer for M75-79.

Behind Ulloa, the real drama unfolded between Roy Chen, 76, of San Jose, and Joe Cordova, 77, of La Puente. Chen ran a notably steadier race through the men's field — his gender position barely budged across seven checkpoints, hovering in the 4,800s for much of the second half. Cordova, meanwhile, actually moved up through the men's field from 4,976th to 4,837th between miles 9 and 14, logging his best segment between miles 14 and 16 to apply late pressure. But Chen had built enough of a cushion: he finished in 6:07:43 to Cordova's 6:10:54, a gap of just over three minutes after more than six hours of racing.

Wilford Smith, 77, of San Leandro, brought it home in 7:30:42 — nearly an hour and twenty minutes behind Cordova, but with a consistent gender-place arc that actually improved in the final miles, ticking from 5,104th down to 5,052nd as others around him faded. His 17:11/mi average reflects a deliberate, measured approach to 26.2 miles across San Francisco's famously demanding terrain. Four entered, four finished — that alone deserves recognition.