Two Cities Marathon M70-74: Rearden Runs Away With It

• Patrick Rearden (Scottsdale, AZ) won the M70-74 group in 5:38:43 (12:55/mi), finishing more than 31 minutes clear of the field.
• Michael Davis and David Lehman staged the closest battle of the day, separated by just 5:30 at the line — Davis 2nd in 6:10:24, Lehman 3rd in 6:15:54.
• Joe Ballmer (Folsom, CA) finished 4th in 6:18:10, just 2:16 behind Lehman — the tightest gap of the podium chase.
• Five men aged 70–71 toed the line on this flat, point-to-point course running along the Fresno/Clovis border — a Boston Qualifier layout built for fast times.

Patrick Rearden made the M70-74 race his own from the outset. The 70-year-old from Scottsdale averaged 12:55 per mile across 26.2 miles, and his moves through the men's field tell the story of a controlled, steady effort — he climbed from 351st to 349th among men by the finish, consistently ticking forward in the latter miles. His strongest stretch came late: he posted the 317th-fastest split in the field on the 23M–25.2M segment, a sign that he was still pressing with the finish line in sight. His 31-minute winning margin left no doubt about who owned this age group on Sunday.

Behind him, the race for 2nd through 4th was genuinely competitive. Michael Davis (Salinas, CA) ran a measured 14:08/mi to cross in 6:10:24, holding off David Lehman (Fresno, CA, 6:15:54 at 14:20/mi) by five and a half minutes. Lehman had a small edge late — he posted the 333rd-fastest split in the field on the final 25.2M-to-finish segment, suggesting he finished with something left. Joe Ballmer (Folsom, CA) was right on his heels in 4th at 6:18:10 (14:25/mi), the gap between 2nd and 4th spanning just over eight minutes across more than six hours of racing.

Scott Browar (Coarsegold, CA) rounded out the five-man group in 5th, finishing in 7:21:56 at 16:51/mi — more than an hour behind Ballmer but completing a demanding 26.2-mile point-to-point course at age 71. Five men in their early seventies running a full marathon deserves its own acknowledgment, whatever the clock says.