M65-69 at Chicago 13.1: Tiggs Takes the Title in a Sharp Front-Pack Battle

• Nathan Tiggs won the M65-69 group in 1:38:31 (7:31/mi), holding off JP Himmelberg by 33 seconds.
• The top two finishers both broke 1:40 — the only two in the 39-man field to do so.
• Rainer Schochat claimed 3rd in 1:42:07, a full 3 minutes 3 seconds back of Tiggs but a comfortable 3 minutes 44 seconds clear of 4th.
• The spread from 1st to 20th stretched nearly 42 minutes, reflecting a wide range of effort across the M65-69 field.

Nathan Tiggs of Farmington, IL ran a composed 7:31/mi to claim the M65-69 title on a pleasant Chicago morning — 60°F and clear, about as good as June racing gets on the lakefront. His 1:38:31 was the benchmark of the day, and he earned it by steadily climbing through the men's field over the second half of the race, recovering from a mid-race dip to finish strong.

JP Himmelberg, racing on home turf in Chicago, pushed Tiggs hard. His 1:39:04 at 7:33/mi kept the margin honest at 33 seconds — close enough that the outcome was never a foregone conclusion. Both men separated themselves cleanly from the rest of the M65-69 field; no one else cracked 1:42.

Rainer Schochat of Berwyn made the podium in 1:42:07, and his progression through the men's field told the story of a patient runner — he climbed steadily from well back and posted a strong closing split from 15K to the finish. The gap he put on 4th-place David Ioder (1:45:51) was nearly four minutes, making 3rd place his alone without much drama.

Behind the top four, the race spread out considerably. Rich Zappen (6th, 1:50:23) through Don Casey (20th, 2:20:27) covered nearly 30 minutes of racing, a reminder that in the M65-69 group, finishing is its own achievement. With 19 additional finishers beyond the top 20, the field of 39 represented a full spectrum of pace and purpose across 13.1 miles.