B.A.A. 10K M65-69: Blatt Dominates in the Heat

• Russell Blatt, 67, West Hartford, CT won the M65-69 age group in 42:35 (6:51/mi), finishing nearly 1:38 ahead of runner-up Claude Buttrey.
• Marcos Santos made the most dramatic move of the race, climbing from what looked like a mid-pack position to 4th place on the strength of the 330th-fastest split in the field on the 8K-to-finish stretch.
• Positions 6–9 finished within five seconds of each other — Rippcondi (47:22), Dow (47:23), Olegarios (47:24), and Verge (47:27) — making for one of the tightest mid-pack clusters in the age group.
• 76 men completed the race in the M65-69 age group, with the top 20 ranging from 42:35 to 52:19.

Running 6:51 per mile through 87°F heat, 66% humidity, and an 18 mph wind, Russell Blatt made the M65-69 race look almost straightforward. The 67-year-old from West Hartford finished in 42:35 — a margin that left no drama at the front. Claude Buttrey (44:13) and Brian Sherras (44:23) rounded out the podium, separated by just ten seconds between them but unable to close the gap to Blatt.

The most compelling subplot belonged to Marcos Santos. The 65-year-old from Revere arrived at the 8K mark buried deep in the field, but his closing stretch was exceptional — the 330th-fastest split in the entire field on that final push to the finish line. That surge lifted him to 4th in the age group at 45:09, leapfrogging Michael Anderson (45:46), who had been tracking ahead of him through the middle miles but faded slightly in the brutal finishing conditions.

Just behind the top five, the race produced a remarkable logjam. Robert Rippcondi, Harry Dow, Paulo Olegarios, and Robert Verge crossed in a span of five seconds — 47:22 through 47:27 — with Dow and Olegarios sharing the same displayed time of 47:23 and 47:24 respectively but separated in the official order. On a hot June morning in Boston, that kind of tight racing across four competitors is a story in itself.