M70-74: McGourty Dominates Chicago's Septuagenarian Half

• Bernard McGourty won the M70-74 group in 1:55:51 (8:50/mi), finishing more than 21 minutes clear of runner-up William Roberts.
• The podium was tightly packed behind Roberts: James Cavallo (3rd, 2:22:27) and Robert Borello (4th, 2:23:14) were separated by just 47 seconds.
• Randolph Johnston (5th, 2:45:24) was the only other finisher under three hours, while the final three — John Zero (6th, 3:06:27), David Cox (7th, 3:15:22), and Floyd Towner (8th, 3:33:09) — spread across the back end of the afternoon.

Bernard McGourty made the M70-74 race his own from the jump. Running at an 8:50/mi clip in 74°F heat with a 12 mph wind, the Westmont native crossed in 1:55:51 — a margin of victory so large it rendered the outcome a foregone conclusion long before the finish line. His split data tells a story of a strong but measured effort: he moved through the men's field steadily in the early going before the warm conditions took a modest toll in the back half, drifting slightly in the men's standings from mile 8 onward. Still, nobody in the M70-74 group came close to threatening him.

The real drama in the age group played out for third place. James Cavallo of Downers Grove clocked 2:22:27 and Robert Borello of Plainfield ran 2:23:14 — 47 seconds the difference between them after 13.1 miles. Cavallo had a lively mid-race stretch, posting a strong 8K–10K split before settling in, while Borello ran a more even-handed race and actually closed well, recording one of his better relative splits on the 15K-to-finish stretch. Neither could shake the other, making that battle for the bronze the most competitive subplot of the morning.

William Roberts (2nd, 2:17:42) was a comfortable second, running a disciplined 10:30/mi pace and finishing nearly five minutes ahead of Cavallo. Randolph Johnston (5th, 2:45:24) rounded out the sub-three-hour contingent, improving his position in the broader men's field over the final miles — a sign he ran the course smartly in the heat. All eight men in the M70-74 group finished, a full complement crossing the line on a warm Chicago morning.