Way Too Cool 50K M60-69: Hess Commands the Age Group in 5:26

• Ronald Hess won the M60-69 group in 5:26:03 (10:30/mi), finishing more than seven minutes clear of runner-up Timothy Fitzpatrick.
• Fitzpatrick ran the 34th-fastest split in the field on the Goat Hill→HWY 49 segment — one spot sharper than Hess's 35th on that same stretch — but couldn't close the gap that had opened earlier.
• Mansour Monem held third in 6:06:45, nearly 34 minutes behind Fitzpatrick — the largest single gap between any two consecutive podium finishers in the group.
• Thirteen men finished in the M60-69 group, with the spread from first to last spanning just over three hours.

---

On a crisp 54°F morning in Cool, Ronald Hess ran a composed, measured 50K, averaging 10:30 per mile across the full course. He wasn't untouchable on every segment — Timothy Fitzpatrick actually edged him by one spot on the Goat Hill→HWY 49 stretch — but Hess had already done his damage before that point. His men's field position told the story: he climbed steadily from 40th at the opening checkpoint all the way to 35th by the finish, a quiet, relentless forward march through the field.

Fitzpatrick's race had a different shape. He started deeper in the men's field — 58th at the first two checkpoints — before reeling in rivals through the middle miles, eventually reaching 38th among the men by the finish. His 5:33:13 at 10:44/mi was a strong effort, and his Goat Hill→HWY 49 split was the sharper of the two leaders' on that leg, but the deficit to Hess was already baked in by then.

Monem secured third in 6:06:45, running 11:48/mi and holding a consistent position in the men's field throughout. Behind him, Richard Slavensky (6:32:35) and Paul Sweeney (6:45:20) rounded out the top five, with Sweeney — the youngest of the group at 60 — posting the 88th-fastest split in the field on the HWY 49→Finish leg. The back half of the M60-69 field spread across a wide range of finishes, from Manouch Shirvanioun's 7:05 to Joseph Ferra's 8:29, a testament to the course's unforgiving demands on everyone who lined up.