Broken Arrow IFC M60-69: Sterling laps the field in a class of his own

• Brian Sterling wins the M60-69 Iron Face Challenge in 1:41:02 — more than 69 minutes ahead of the next finisher.
• Tom Dion and Gary Eldridge, both 60, finish 2nd and 3rd separated by just 3 seconds (2:50:20 vs. 2:50:23) — the closest battle of the day in this group.
• Mark Shijo, 66, rounds out the four-man field in 3:08:56, finishing the course at 6,700+ feet on a 91°F afternoon.

Brian Sterling didn't just win the M60-69 Iron Face Challenge — he redefined what winning looks like in a four-man field. His 1:41:02 finish at a 20:12/mi average on a high-elevation course topping out near 7,200 feet, in 91°F heat, left the rest of the group more than an hour behind. Whatever the conditions threw at the field — thin air, blazing sun, a 14 mph wind — Sterling was simply operating on a different plane.

Behind him, the race for second was a genuine thriller. Tom Dion and Gary Eldridge, both age 60 and both Bay Area runners, crossed the line in essentially the same moment: Dion in 2:50:20, Eldridge in 2:50:23. Three seconds after more than two and a half hours of racing — that's a battle that must have been fought step for step on the mountain. Dion holds 2nd, Eldridge 3rd, but the margin between them is about as thin as the air at 7,000 feet.

Mark Shijo, the eldest of the group at 66, finished 4th in 3:08:56 — completing a genuinely demanding five miles at altitude and in serious heat. At 37:47/mi, the Sacramento runner got it done on a day that demanded respect from everyone who toed the line.