Cleveland Marathon 10K: Jeffrey Fien Wins the M75-79 Battle of Northeast Ohio

• Jeffrey Fien, 77, takes the M75-79 title in 1:29:36 — a 14:25/mi pace through 67°F humidity and a stiff 15 mph wind.
• Greg Cook, 79, finishes 2nd in 1:38:39 — nine minutes and three seconds back, running 15:53/mi.
• Ferris Williams, 75, rounds out the trio in 3rd at 1:50:27 — 17:47/mi, finishing 11 minutes and 48 seconds behind Cook.
• All three finishers are Northeast Ohio locals — Mayfield, Cleveland Heights, and East Cleveland represented on the same podium.

Three men in their mid-to-late 70s toed the line in Cleveland on a muggy May morning — 67°F, 83% humidity, and a 15 mph wind conspiring to make every mile feel longer. Jeffrey Fien, 77, of Mayfield, answered with the most composed effort of the group, covering the 10K at a 14:25/mi pace to claim the M75-79 title in 1:29:36.

Greg Cook, the oldest of the three at 79, was Fien's closest challenger. Cook crossed in 1:38:39 at 15:53/mi — a notably harder pace than Fien's, and a gap of just over nine minutes separating the two at the finish line. That Cook was out there at 79, running a 10K in difficult conditions, is a story in itself.

Ferris Williams, the youngest of the group at 75, came home 3rd in 1:50:27 — running 17:47/mi and finishing nearly 12 minutes behind Cook. With only three men in the M75-79 field, every finisher earned a podium spot, but the gaps between them were real and the conditions were no gift to anyone. Three neighbors — separated by a handful of miles and a handful of years — showed up and got it done.