Boston Marathon M75-79: Crawford Holds Off Hieb in a Tight Title Battle

• David Crawford (WA) wins M75-79 in 3:42:36 (8:29/mi), edging John Hieb by 53 seconds in one of the day's closest age-group finishes.
• Top-5 compressed into 7:37 — from Crawford's 3:42:36 to Ron Wightman's 3:50:13, with three men separated by just 1:25 across places 3 through 5.
• Richard Richard (NS) ran the strongest late charge in the top five, moving steadily through the men's field across every checkpoint to claim 3rd in 3:48:32 (8:43/mi).
• 68 men finished in the M75-79 age group, with the top 20 all breaking 4:31.

Fifty-one degrees, overcast skies, and a 10 mph wind greeted the M75-79 field on Patriots' Day — conditions that reward patience and penalize early ambition. David Crawford (WA) showed both qualities, crossing in 3:42:36 at 8:29/mi to take the age-group title. His checkpoint data tells a careful story: he held a steady position through the men's field before fading slightly in the closing miles — but he had built enough of a cushion that it never cost him the win.

John Hieb (CA) ran a notably different race. His men's field position dropped sharply after the half before he clawed back ground through every subsequent checkpoint, finishing 2nd in 3:43:29 (8:31/mi) — 53 seconds behind Crawford. That recovery was real, but the gap to the leader was set too early to close. Richard Richard (NS) was the most consistent mover of the contenders, climbing through the men's field at every single checkpoint and landing 3rd in 3:48:32 (8:43/mi).

Paul Funch (MA) and Ron Wightman (NY) rounded out the top five at 3:49:57 and 3:50:13 respectively — just 16 seconds separating them. Wightman made up ground in the second half, while Funch ran a remarkably even race throughout. Behind the top five, a sizeable gap opened: Ulrich Schmidt (FL) finished 6th in 4:00:45, more than ten minutes back from Crawford but leading a pack of eight men who all finished between 4:00 and 4:10.

The depth across all 68 finishers speaks for itself — running Boston at 75-to-79 years old is an achievement on its own terms, and twenty men in this group broke 4:31. Crawford's 8:29/mi winning pace, held over 26.2 miles on a famously demanding course, was the standard everyone chased.