M75-79: Tom Kim Runs Away With It in Chicago

• Tom Kim won the M75-79 group in 2:23:34 (10:57/mi), finishing more than 16 minutes clear of second place.
• Randolph Johnston held second in 2:40:06, with a comfortable gap over the final two spots.
• Aby Abraham and Anthony Maidenberg were separated by just 1:02 at the line — the closest battle of the day in M75-79.
• All four finishers were 75 years old, making this one of the most age-uniform groups in the race.

Tom Kim owned this race from the opening miles and never let up. Tracking his progress through the field, he moved steadily and purposefully — climbing from his early position all the way through the final stretch, where his 15K-to-finish leg was his strongest relative move of the day. At 10:57 per mile across 13.1 miles on a warm Chicago morning, that's a genuinely impressive performance for any age group, let alone M75-79.

Randolph Johnston ran a composed, consistent race to claim second in 2:40:06. His mile splits tell a similar story of steady, controlled effort — he held his position through the middle miles and closed respectably, finishing 12 minutes behind Kim but well clear of the drama unfolding behind him.

That drama belonged to Aby Abraham and Anthony Maidenberg. Abraham crossed in 3:09:18 and Maidenberg in 3:10:20 — just 62 seconds apart after more than three hours of racing. Maidenberg actually tracked slightly ahead of Abraham in the early going, but Abraham had the stronger finish leg from 15K onward, pulling clear to secure third. It was the tightest finish in the M75-79 group and a genuine battle to the end.

Four men in their mid-seventies lining up for a half marathon on a 72-degree June day in Chicago is a story in itself. Kim made sure his chapter was the one worth reading.