Two Cities Marathon 5K — M75-79: Borjas Dominates in Fresno

• Ed Borjas won the M75-79 group in 35:03 (11:17/mi), finishing 16 minutes and 6 seconds ahead of runner-up Jit Basra.
• The five finishers ranged in finish time from 35:03 to 1:54:17 — a spread of nearly 79 minutes across a 5K.
• Ernesto Lopez, at 75 the youngest in the group, clocked 1:15:17 — a full 22 minutes behind Benjamin Duran in 3rd.

Ed Borjas, 77, from Clovis, made this one look like a different race entirely. His 35:03 at 11:17 per mile wasn't just a win — it was a statement. The gap back to Modesto's Jit Basra (51:09, 16:28/mi) was over 16 minutes, a margin that tells you Borjas was in a category of his own among the five men who toed the line in the M75-79 age group on a warm Fresno morning.

Behind Borjas, the race had its own drama. Basra held off Merced's Benjamin Duran by 2 minutes and 44 seconds — both men 76 and 77 respectively and running within a similar rhythm at 16:28 and 17:21 per mile. That gap between 2nd and 3rd was the tightest of the day in this group, making their quiet duel the most competitive battle on the course among these athletes.

Further back, Fresno's Ernesto Lopez crossed in 1:15:17 at 24:14 per mile, more than 21 minutes adrift of Duran. And then there was Orlando Vasquez, also of Fresno, who came home last in 1:54:17 — but came home nonetheless. At 36:47 per mile, the effort required to cover 3.1 miles at 76 years old on a 74-degree November day deserves its own acknowledgment. Five men started, five men finished. Borjas just happened to make it look easy.