Broken Arrow 5 Mile (IFC): Parsons owns the M60-69 summit

• Duane Parsons, 66, wins the M60-69 field in 1:51:09 — a 22:14/mi average across a high-altitude, wind-lashed course above 6,700 ft.
• Mark Shijo, 67, completes the course in 3:30:49 — nearly double Parsons' time at 42:10/mi — but earns every bit of that finish line.
• Just two men lined up in M60-69 — and both of them finished. On a 5-mile course that climbs into thin air above Lake Tahoe, that's no small thing.

Two men in their mid-to-late sixties took on one of the more unforgiving race environments in the Sierra Nevada — a course that tops out near 7,200 feet, with 17 mph winds and barely 19% humidity adding to the altitude's bite. Duane Parsons, 66, of Ramona, CA, handled it decisively, crossing in 1:51:09 at a 22:14/mi average. On terrain like this, at this elevation, that's a measured and confident effort.

Mark Shijo, 67, out of Sacramento, made it to the finish in 3:30:49 — a 42:10/mi average that tells the story of a man grinding through every foot of that mountain. The gap to Parsons was wide, but the finish line is the finish line, and Shijo claimed it.

With only two competitors in M60-69, the field was small — but the course didn't care. High elevation, gusty winds, and dry mountain air make no exceptions for age or field size. That both men completed the 5-mile IFC course is the real headline here, and Parsons takes the win with room to spare.