M70-74: Steve Yee Runs Sacramento's Streets to a Convincing Age-Group Win

• Steve Yee took the M70-74 title in 3:30:49 (8:02/mi), finishing more than 1:40 ahead of runner-up David Crawford.
• The podium was tightly bunched at the top: Crawford (3:32:29) and Sandy Rutledge (3:33:02) were separated by just 33 seconds for second and third.
• Fourth and fifth were even closer: John Hirschberger (3:42:47) and Andrew Ogan (3:42:55) were split by just 8 seconds after 26.2 miles.
• A massive gap separated the top five from sixth: Manfred Leong's 3:56:33 trailed Ogan by nearly 14 minutes.

Steve Yee, 70, running on home turf in Sacramento, delivered the strongest performance in the M70-74 field across all 38 finishers. His 8:02/mi average held remarkably steady, and his tracking data tells the story of a patient, well-executed race — hovering in the mid-2800s among men through the first half before steadily climbing through the field. From 35K to 40K he was genuinely surging, posting one of the stronger late-race splits in the group and gaining meaningful ground over the final miles to cross in 3:30:49.

David Crawford (age 73, Renton, WA) ran a composed race in second. His 8:06/mi average was consistent throughout, though his tracking shows he largely held position rather than making a dramatic late move. Sandy Rutledge (age 72, Halifax) slotted in just 33 seconds behind Crawford for third — a satisfying podium gap given the distance covered — though Rutledge's splits suggest a slight fade in the back half, with his strongest relative segment coming between the half and 25K.

The battle for fourth was one of the afternoon's most compelling sub-plots. John Hirschberger of San Francisco and Andrew Ogan of Colorado Springs ran side by side in essence for the entire race, both averaging 8:30/mi and finishing within 8 seconds of each other. Both were strong finishers in the 35K–40K segment, each gaining ground on the field in that stretch. After that, it was a clean sweep of California runners filling out much of the rest of the top 20 — a fitting result for a race that calls Sacramento home.