M75-79 Marathon: Scroggins Claims the Age Group in Virginia Beach Heat

• Sterling Scroggins won the M75-79 group in 4:29:47 (10:17/mi), finishing more than 20 minutes clear of second place.
• Ron Carpenter held second throughout, crossing in 4:49:48 (11:03/mi) — a solid 20-minute gap back to third.
• A massive 1:28:13 gulf separated Carpenter from James Miner (6:18:01), who edged out William Chadim (7:05:45) by nearly 48 minutes for third.
• All four men finished a full marathon in 71°F heat with 17 mph winds and 73% humidity — conditions that made every minute earned.

Four men aged 75–78 toed the line at Shamrock on a warm, blustery Virginia Beach morning, and Sterling Scroggins of Washington, DC made the clearest statement. Running a steady 10:17-per-mile pace, the 75-year-old moved progressively through the men's field from the gun — climbing from 806th among men at the first checkpoint all the way to 660th by 35K before a slight settle to 672nd at the finish. That sustained forward momentum over 26.2 miles in tough conditions tells the real story of his race.

Ron Carpenter of Hudson, MI ran a similarly composed effort in second, tracking a consistent 11:03/mi and mirroring Scroggins's pattern of steady advancement through the men's field. He never threatened the lead — Scroggins had the race in hand from early on — but Carpenter's 4:49:48 was a controlled, disciplined run that secured the runner-up spot without drama.

Behind those two, the race split into a different contest entirely. James Miner, 76, of Dryden, NY crossed in 6:18:01 at 14:25/mi, while 78-year-old William Chadim of Midlothian, VA — running his home-state race — finished in 7:05:45 at 16:14/mi. Chadim's place in the men's field barely shifted across any checkpoint, a picture of a man grinding it out mile after mile against the heat and wind. That he finished at all, at 78, in these conditions, is the number that matters most.