M75-79: Walsh Sets the Pace in Sacramento's Oldest Men's Group

• Ed Walsh, 77, wins the M75-79 group in 29:05 (9:22/mi), finishing 41 seconds clear of runner-up Michael Beatty.
• Beatty surges late: the Rocklin native ran the second half faster than anyone else in the group, climbing from 8th to 5th place among the men in his portion of the field across the final miles.
• Charles Curran rounds out the top three at 32:56 (10:36/mi) — nearly four minutes back of Walsh but a full 4:48 ahead of fourth.
• Six finishers completed the M75-79 race, spanning a remarkable 44:41 from first to last.

Ed Walsh of Placerville took the M75-79 title in 29:05, running a steady 9:22 per mile on a clear Sacramento morning with a 14 mph breeze. His nearest challenger, fellow 77-year-old Michael Beatty of Rocklin, crossed in 29:46 — close enough in finish time, but the story of their race was different. Beatty was the stronger closer, posting the group's fastest second-half split, steadily reeling in competitors over the back half of the course. Walsh, meanwhile, held his position through the middle miles and protected his lead when it counted.

Charles Curran of Sacramento came home third in 32:56, running 10:36 per mile. He faded somewhat through the middle segment — dropping back through the men's field on the 1M–2M stretch — but still finished nearly five minutes ahead of Robert Rinker, who placed fourth in 37:44 (12:09/mi). Rinker was actually the group's strongest finisher on the final stretch to the line, posting the best 3M-to-finish split in the M75-79 field.

Glenn Bailey of Roseville and Mark Steffens of Sacramento rounded out the six-man group at 1:04:44 and 1:13:46 respectively, with Steffens finishing at a 23:45/mi pace. That the M75-79 group put six men across a 5K finish line on a warm Memorial Day weekend in Sacramento is worth noting on its own — Walsh just happened to do it fastest.