M60-69: Gebremicael Dominates, Then a Four-Way Scramble for Places 5–8

• Tom Gebremicael, 60, of Santa Rosa won the M60-69 race in 2:59:39 (6:51/mi) — the only finisher in the group to break three hours.
• Places 5–8 were separated by just 18 seconds: Martin Lehner (3:38:16), Jhyfang Hu (3:38:18), Richie Wong (3:38:32), and Roger Hauptman (3:38:34) ran one of the tightest four-way clusters of the day.
• Trinidad Robles had the most dramatic second half in the group, fading sharply after a strong opening to finish 4th in 3:22:33.
• Jonathan Mayes, 68, was the oldest finisher in the top 12, crossing in 3:46:40 — 8:39/mi.

Tom Gebremicael made this one look straightforward from his home turf in Santa Rosa. Running at 6:51/mi on a misty morning through Sonoma County wine country, he finished in 2:59:39 — a full 14 minutes and 22 seconds clear of second place. He was the only runner in the M60-69 field to crack three hours, and his second-half split was the 124th-fastest among all women in the race, a measure of just how well he held his pace through the back half.

Behind him, Chuck Moreland (3:14:01, 7:24/mi) and Robert Leonardo (3:16:10, 7:29/mi) ran a clean podium, separated by just over two minutes. Both were stronger in the second half than Trinidad Robles, who had been moving well through the early miles — holding a far better gender position than either — before fading considerably from 13.1 miles onward. Robles finished 4th in 3:22:33 but posted the 377th-fastest second-half split among women, a steep drop from where he stood at the halfway point.

The most entertaining subplot was the 5-through-8 battle. Martin Lehner, traveling from Bayreuth, crossed in 3:38:16. Then Jhyfang Hu (Cupertino), Richie Wong (Rocklin), and Roger Hauptman (Upland) followed in 3:38:18, 3:38:32, and 3:38:34 — all four runners separated by 18 seconds across nearly four hours of racing. Glen Bentley and Charles Chen (both 3:48:21) added another near-deadlock further back, with timing finer than the displayed clock separating their places 13 and 14.

Jonathan Mayes, 68, deserves a specific mention: the oldest finisher in the listed top 20 ran 3:46:40 to take 12th, a composed effort in cool, humid conditions that held up well across 26.2 miles.