Fort Ord 25K M60-69: Fabing Claims the Age Group in 2:48

• Roger Fabing, 69, wins in 2:48:00 (10:49/mi), the fastest in the M60-69 group by nearly six minutes over runner-up Manuel Gutierrez.
• Gutierrez edges Sivolella — 2:53:59 to 3:00:34 — for the silver spot, with the podium spanning just over 12 minutes from top to third.
• Fabing's closing leg was his strongest move: he climbed from 47th to 30th among men on the final segment, posting the 25th-fastest Toro Creek→Finish split among women as a benchmark for that stretch.
• Chris Hansen rounds out the eight-man field in 4:20:42 (16:47/mi), more than an hour behind Fabing's winning time.

Roger Fabing — the oldest man in the M60-69 group at 69 — didn't just win, he finished the race the way a champion should: by getting faster. He entered the final Toro Creek→Finish segment sitting 47th among men and came out of it in 30th, a gain of 17 places in the closing miles on a damp, overcast morning at Fort Ord. His 10:49/mi average was the class of the field, and his 2:48:00 gave everyone else a target they couldn't reach.

Manuel Gutierrez of Carmel Valley ran a measured 2:53:59 (11:12/mi) to secure second, though his closing leg told a slightly different story — he slipped from 37th to 39th among men on that same Toro Creek→Finish stretch, meaning Fabing was actively catching and passing runners while Gutierrez held steady. The gap between them, nearly six minutes, reflects the difference in those final miles. Dan Sivolella of San Francisco rounded out the podium in 3:00:34 (11:37/mi), his strongest relative segment coming earlier — a 36th-fastest split among women on the Skyline→Toro Creek leg.

Pete Randazzo (3:05:47) and Alan Shaffer (3:11:44) filled out the top five, followed by Steve Decarli of Salinas in 3:17:57 and Ron Evans of Carmel Valley in 3:19:49 — just under two minutes separating sixth from seventh. Chris Hansen completed the course in 4:20:42, finishing the M60-69 field on a course that, at 53°F and 91% humidity, offered no favors to anyone pushing through Fort Ord's trails.