Cleveland Half Marathon M65-69: Krause Dominates on a Warm May Morning

• David Krause (Strongsville, OH) won the M65-69 group in 1:35:15 — a 7:16/mi clip that put more than three minutes of daylight between him and the rest of the field.
• Dave Berardi ran the strongest middle segment in the group, climbing from 8th to 2nd on the 10K-to-finish stretch to claim 2nd in 1:38:27 (7:31/mi).
• Places 3 through 5 were decided in a tight 2-minute window: Rich Oldrieve (1:50:45), Howard Meyerson (1:52:12), and Scott Freeman (1:52:54) finished within 129 seconds of each other.
• Pete West and Ken Palmquist staged the closest head-to-head of the day — separated by just 2 seconds at 7th (1:58:22) and 8th (1:58:24).

With 75°F heat, scattered clouds, and 68% humidity pressing down on Cleveland, the M65-69 group of 41 runners faced genuine aerobic stress from the gun. David Krause, 67, of Strongsville made it look manageable. His 7:16/mi average was the class of the group — a pace that held up across all three tracked checkpoints, where he stayed consistently positioned around 120th–126th among the men's field. He crossed in 1:35:15, a margin of 3:12 over his nearest competitor.

Dave Berardi, 65, out of Gwynn Oak, MD, was the race's most compelling mover in the group. He was running 188th among men through the early going, but reeled off the 167th-fastest men's split on the 10K-to-12.6-mile segment and surged all the way to 160th by that checkpoint — a significant climb. He finished 2nd in 1:38:27 (7:31/mi), well clear of the rest.

Behind Berardi, a three-man cluster fought through the back half of the course. Rich Oldrieve (North Olmsted, OH) was the strongest of them on the 10K-to-12.6-mile leg, posting the 423rd-fastest men's split on that segment and moving from 541st to 442nd among men — a surge that secured 3rd in 1:50:45. Howard Meyerson (Strongsville, OH) followed in 1:52:12, and Scott Freeman (Manchester, CT) — who was notably steadier through the checkpoints than his rivals — rounded out the top five in 1:52:54.

Further back, the race delivered one of the day's tightest finishes anywhere in the age group: Pete West (Butler County, OH) and Ken Palmquist (Manchester, NH) both crossed in 9:02/mi pace, separated by a mere two seconds — West 7th in 1:58:22, Palmquist 8th in 1:58:24. In the heat, holding that kind of pace through 13.1 miles at 66 and 67 years old is worth noting.