M70-74 at CIM 2022: Gene Dykes Runs Away With It

• Gene Dykes, 74, wins M70-74 in 3:41:04 — an 8:26/mi pace that left the field more than 21 minutes behind.
• Robert Bartzokas (2nd, 4:02:38) and Tony Tuttle (3rd, 4:10:58) rounded out the podium, separated by just over eight minutes.
• 4th and 5th came down to seven seconds: Jean Paul Mazaud (4:14:25) edged Craig Hayes (4:14:32) for 4th place.
• 26 men finished in the M70-74 age group on a cool, damp Sacramento morning — 56°F with light rain and 80% humidity.

Gene Dykes, racing at 74, delivered the kind of performance that makes you do a double-take at the results sheet. His 3:41:04 — 8:26 per mile, sustained for 26.2 miles in the rain — put a full 21 minutes and 34 seconds between himself and second place. His checkpoint data tells the story of a man who ran his own race from the front: he held a steady position through the first half, then gradually worked his way through the broader field in the back half, finishing with a strong 35K-to-finish stretch that separated him decisively from everyone behind him.

Robert Bartzokas of San Diego claimed 2nd in 4:02:38, posting a notably strong 35K–40K split for a 70-plus runner. Tony Tuttle of Hercules, CA — running on home-state roads — came in 3rd at 4:10:58, also showing life in that same late segment. Both men were moving through the field in the final kilometers, which speaks to well-managed efforts on a day that could punish anyone who went out too hard in the wet conditions.

The race within the race for 4th was genuinely tight. Jean Paul Mazaud of Carmel, CA (4:14:25) and Craig Hayes of Colorado Springs (4:14:32) ran nearly identical races, with Mazaud's strongest relative segment coming on the 40K-to-finish stretch — just enough to hold off Hayes by seven seconds. Dennis Chang (6th, 4:20:15) and Richard Mollenkopf (7th, 4:28:54) rounded out a strong top half of the age group, with the back half of the field spread across a wide range from 4:31 to past the 5:40 mark.