Broken Arrow 18K M60-69: Willey Holds Off a Bay Area Charge

• Mike Willey wins the M60-69 field in 2:40:01 (14:18/mi), finishing 2:18 ahead of runner-up Paul Weber (2:42:19).
• Top three within 4:30: Gary Deacon (3rd, 2:44:31) completed a tight podium sweep, all three men finishing under 2:45.
• Weber's mid-race surge: Weber climbed from 71st to 54th among men on the KT 22→Siberia segment — posting the 49th-fastest split on that stretch — before fading back to 62nd by the finish line.
• Widest spread in the field: From Willey's 2:40:01 to Jeremiah Valenzuela's 5:33:48 (12th, Mesa, AZ), the M60-69 field spanned nearly three hours of racing.

Mike Willey of Novato, CA, took the M60-69 title on a demanding course that climbs from roughly 6,200 to nearly 8,800 feet above sea level — terrain that punishes any lapse in pacing at altitude. At 14:18/mi across 18 kilometers of Palisades Tahoe trails, Willey ran a controlled, progressive race. His gender place tells the story: he moved from 72nd early to 57th by the finish, steadily picking off runners across the back half, including a strong Siberia→High Camp segment where he posted the 50th-fastest split in the women's field — a useful cross-field benchmark for just how hard he pushed on that climb.

Paul Weber (60, Petaluma, CA) made the most aggressive mid-race move of anyone in the M60-69 group, surging from 71st to 54th among men through the KT 22→Siberia stretch with the 49th-fastest split on that segment. But the effort cost him — he slipped back to 62nd by the finish and crossed in 2:42:19, 2:18 behind Willey. Gary Deacon (66, Sonora, CA) ran a steadier race to claim 3rd in 2:44:31, his gender place barely moving across the entire course. Three men, three different strategies — and just 4:30 separating them at the line.

Behind the podium, Dale Hall (4th, 3:12:48) and Kurt Meyer (5th, 3:38:00) ran their own races at a noticeably different tempo, with Meyer's 19:29/mi average reflecting the very real toll of nearly 2,700 feet of vertical on a warm, clear afternoon. Joe Brummitt (7th, 4:00:21) and Frederick Roth (8th, 4:05:15), both 68, were separated by under five minutes — the oldest pair in the field, trading places across a tough course. Steve Showler (11th, 4:24:34) and David Phillips (10th, 4:24:21) finished just 13 seconds apart after more than four hours on the mountain. Jeremiah Valenzuela (12th, Mesa, AZ) closed it out in 5:33:48 — every finisher earning their result on one of the more demanding 18K courses in the country.