Shamrock Half Marathon M55-59: Larry Smart Runs Away With It

• Larry Smart, 56, wins in 1:24:47 — a 6:28/mi clip that left the M55-59 field of 190 in the dust, finishing more than seven and a half minutes clear of runner-up Scott Callahan.
• Scott Callahan (1:32:19, 7:03/mi) held second comfortably, with Joe Bushey (1:37:08) and Michele Strippoli (1:38:09) rounding out the top four within a minute of each other.
• Places 4 through 5 were tight: Strippoli's 1:38:09 and Tom Purcell's 1:38:50 were separated by just 41 seconds across 13.1 miles.
• A log-jam at 8:08/mi: Cliff Fleet and Brian Siffel both clocked 1:46:37, with Judd Southworth just three seconds back at 1:46:40 — three runners in the same three-second window.

Larry Smart came to Virginia Beach to race, and he made that abundantly clear. The 56-year-old from Dunedin, FL ran 6:28 per mile through 95% humidity and a steady 11 mph wind off the coast, building steadily through the field. His moves tell the story: he entered the 15K-to-20K segment ranked 56th among men and emerged 42nd, posting the 30th-fastest split on that stretch across the entire men's field. By the finish, the gap back to second place was 7:32 — not a race, a statement.

Scott Callahan of Suffolk, VA was a clear and comfortable runner-up at 1:32:19 (7:03/mi), likewise making a strong move in that same 15K-to-20K stretch — his 108th-fastest men's split in the field on that segment helped him climb from 148th to 124th among men overall. Joe Bushey (1:37:08, 7:25/mi) of Virginia Beach took third in his hometown race, while Newport News's Michele Strippoli (1:38:09, 7:29/mi) and Chesapeake's Tom Purcell (1:38:50, 7:32/mi) completed the top five in a tight 41-second window.

Further back, the race produced a genuine cluster worth noting: Cliff Fleet (Richmond) and Brian Siffel (Arnold, MD) crossed in identical displayed times of 1:46:37 — the finer timing separating 12th from 13th — with Judd Southworth of Hughesville, MD just three seconds later at 1:46:40. All three running 8:08/mi in the same humid, breezy conditions on Virginia Beach's flat course. The full M55-59 field of 190 finishers stretched well beyond the top 20, a deep showing for one of the half marathon's most competitive age brackets.