M65-69 at Two Cities: Skitsak Runs Away from the Field

• Mykhaylo Skitsak won the M65-69 group in 3:56:38 (9:02/mi), the only finisher to break four hours — a margin of 15 minutes 17 seconds over second place.
• Puttappaiah Muniyappa ran a strong, steady race to claim second in 4:11:55, moving up consistently through the men's field across every checkpoint.
• Randy Comfort secured third in 4:54:45, posting the fastest split in the M65-69 group on the 18M–19.8M segment.
• Nine men finished the M65-69 race, with a spread of 2 hours 35 minutes 50 seconds from first to last.

Mykhaylo Skitsak, 66, made this race look like a different event from the rest of the M65-69 field. Running at a 9:02/mi average, he moved steadily and relentlessly through the broader men's field — from 382nd among men at the first checkpoint all the way up to 204th by the finish — a climb of 178 places that tells the story of a runner who got stronger as others faded. His 3:56:38 was the only sub-four-hour effort in the group, and his closing split from 25.2M to the finish was the 140th-fastest on that segment across the entire women's and men's field — a genuine push to the line.

Puttappaiah Muniyappa, 69, was the model of measured execution. After moving up from 265th to 285th among men in the early miles — a brief slip back — he steadily clawed his way forward through the second half, finishing 256th among men in 4:11:55. His 9:36/mi average was controlled and his 23M–25.2M split ranked 221st on that segment. At 15 minutes and 17 seconds back of Skitsak, second place was never really in doubt after the midpoint, but Muniyappa's consistency earned it cleanly.

Randy Comfort (4:54:45) rounded out the podium in third, while Brien Dodd and Ken Clark — separated by just under two minutes at the finish — battled it out for fourth and fifth. Clark, notably, ran the 185th-fastest split on the 10K-to-half segment across the full field, showing real early pace before fading. The back half of the M65-69 group was more spread out, with Kevin Caruso completing the course in 6:32:28 at a 14:58/mi pace — a gutsy finish on a warm Fresno morning.