Chicago 13.1 M60-64: Schuch Dominates in a 6:36 Blitz

• Ken Schuch won the M60-64 group in 1:26:30 (6:36/mi), finishing nearly 90 seconds clear of runner-up Aaron Barnhart (1:27:59).
• Barnhart's 6:43/mi was the second-fastest pace in the group across 119 finishers.
• A nearly 10-minute gap separated the podium: Tom Bruursema took 3rd in 1:36:15, with Jim Figler just 18 seconds behind in 4th (1:36:33).
• The top-20 spanned from 1:26:30 to 1:49:56 — a 23-minute range that illustrates the depth and spread of the M60-64 field.

Ken Schuch made the M60-64 race look straightforward from a results standpoint, but his 1:26:30 at 6:36/mi tells the real story — that's a genuinely quick half marathon at any age. His gender-place trajectory is worth noting: he moved from 188th among men at the 8K mark to 188th again by 10K, then drifted back to 227th by the finish, suggesting the men's field around him was surging late while Schuch ran his own consistent, controlled race. He didn't need to chase anyone in the M60-64 group; no one was close enough to force a response.

Aaron Barnhart of Evanston gave Schuch the most pressure, running 6:43/mi for a 1:27:59 finish. His gender-place movement — 213th at 5K, improving to 206th by 8K, then fading to 271st by the end — hints at a strong middle stretch before the final miles took their toll. Still, 1:27:59 is a formidable effort, and Barnhart's gap to 3rd place (nearly nine minutes) shows just how cleanly the top two separated themselves from the rest of the field.

The battle for 3rd was the most competitive subplot of the day. Tom Bruursema (Reed City, MI) and Jim Figler (Orchard Park, NY) ran almost identical races — 1:36:15 and 1:36:33, separated by just 18 seconds across 13.1 miles. Bruursema was the stronger finisher in terms of gender-place movement, climbing from 753rd at the start to 619th by the end. Figler made his move later, improving from 704th at 15K to 633rd at the finish with the 499th-fastest split on that closing segment. Both men earned their podium spots the hard way, grinding through a 119-person field on a breezy Chicago morning.