Broken Arrow 46K M60-69: Wirth Dominates at Altitude

• Theo Wirth won the M60-69 group in 7:40:06 (16:06/mi), finishing more than 15 minutes clear of runner-up David Long.
• David Long held 2nd in 7:55:35, while Glenn Ross rounded out the podium in 8:28:49 — the top three all finishing under 8:30.
• A significant gap separated the podium from the rest: Charles Fromm (4th, 10:10:48) crossed more than 1:42 behind Ross, with the final five finishers spread across the back two hours.
• Kevin Brunson (65) was the oldest finisher in the group, completing the course in 11:59:27 to claim 9th.

Nine men took on one of trail running's most demanding courses — 46 kilometers at elevations between 6,200 and nearly 9,000 feet, in cool, rainy conditions with a 10 mph wind — and Theo Wirth made it look more controlled than most. The 60-year-old from Roseville worked his way steadily through the men's field across the race's middle sections, moving from 171st among men at the first checkpoint all the way up to 119th by the penultimate split before a slight settle to 121st at the finish. His strongest segment came on the Siberia 2→High Camp 2 stretch, where he posted the 79th-fastest split among all men on that leg — a sharp move that reflects where his race truly accelerated.

David Long ran a tactically tidy race of his own, climbing from 156th among men early to as high as 127th before fading slightly to 143rd at the finish. His best individual segment came on Siberia 1→High Camp 1, where he recorded the 111th-fastest men's split on that stretch. Glenn Ross, the 61-year-old from Paso Robles, was consistent throughout — tracking in the 180s among men for much of the race — and his strongest leg came on Snow King 2→Siberia 2, where he posted the 159th-fastest men's split.

The real story of the M60-69 group, though, is the podium's separation from the field. Fromm, Rothwell, and the four finishers behind them were racing in a different time zone altogether — more than 90 minutes adrift of Ross. At nearly 9,000 feet of altitude with rain and wind adding to the challenge, simply finishing Broken Arrow's 46K at any pace is a serious achievement, and all nine men did exactly that.