M65-69: Holzmueller Dominates Chicago 13.1 in a Wire-to-Wire Masterclass

• Keith Holzmueller won the M65-69 group in 1:33:12 (7:07/mi), finishing more than six minutes clear of second place.
• Rich Zappen claimed second in 1:39:11 (7:34/mi), with Laureano Galan third in 1:48:08 (8:15/mi) — a gap of nearly nine minutes back to Galan from the winner.
• Holzmueller was a mover all race long, climbing from 234th to 197th among the men's field across five checkpoints — steady, relentless progress in 74°F heat and a 12 mph wind.
• The back half of the field spread wide: from Daniel Blondin's 4th-place 2:02:54 to Mark Gregory's 16th-place 3:02:51, the M65-69 group covered nearly a full hour of racing.

Keith Holzmueller set the tone from the gun and never let up. Running a 7:07/mi average, the Evanston native ticked off checkpoint after checkpoint in the men's field — 234th, 223rd, 217th, 207th, 197th — a continuous forward march that underlined just how controlled and confident his effort was. His 1:33:12 finish wasn't just a win; it was a statement, bettering second place by six minutes and change on a warm, breezy Chicago morning.

Rich Zappen of Bensenville gave chase and earned a solid second in 1:39:11, running 7:34/mi. His own progression through the men's field was mostly steady, though a slight fade in the second half — drifting from 328th back to 332nd at the finish — hinted at the toll the conditions took late. Laureano Galan of Cicero rounded out the podium in 1:48:08 (8:15/mi), but his checkpoint data tells a different story: he slipped from 374th all the way back to 569th among the men's field over the course of the race, the back half of the course clearly costing him.

The middle of the M65-69 field was tightly bunched between 4th and 6th. Daniel Blondin (4th, 2:02:54), Peter Niznik (5th, 2:07:27), and Otto Aldana (6th, 2:08:13) were separated by fewer than six minutes across three spots. Behind them, Andrew Davis (7th, 2:11:52) through Mark Gregory (16th, 3:02:51) spread across the better part of an hour — a reminder that in the M65-69 group on a warm June day, simply finishing 13.1 miles in Chicago is an achievement worth marking.