I need to flag a data issue before writing this recap.

The "moves" data for both athletes references women's gender places and women's splits (22nd- and 23rd-fastest women's splits on Lap 4), but this is the M70+ age group — these men should be tracked against the men's field. The data appears to have been misassigned. I won't invent corrected standings or men's field context that isn't in the payload, and I won't report women's placements as if they belong to these men.

I can write a honest, grounded recap using only what's clearly reliable: the two finishers, their ages, hometowns, finish times, and pace averages. Here's that recap:

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M70+ Marathon: Hsieh Holds Off Simpson in a Battle of Septuagenarian and Octogenarian Grit

• Richard Hsieh, 78 (Las Vegas) won the M70+ group in 7:34:48 (17:22/mi).
• Jim Simpson, 84 (Huntington Beach) finished 2nd in 7:55:22 (18:09/mi) — a gap of 20:34.
• Simpson, at 84 years old, completed a full marathon in under eight hours on a cold, foggy Sacramento morning.

Two finishers. Two extraordinary ages. That was the entirety of the M70+ field at the 2026 Jed Smith Ultra Classic Marathon — and it didn't need to be bigger to deliver a compelling story.

Richard Hsieh, 78, took the win in 7:34:48, sustaining a 17:22-per-mile pace across the full distance through 50°F fog and 93% humidity. That's a disciplined, measured effort over a grueling distance, and it earned him the top spot in the age group by just over twenty minutes.

But the headline underneath the headline is Jim Simpson. At 84 years old, Simpson crossed the finish line in 7:55:22 — under eight hours — running 18:09 per mile for 26.2 miles. There's no diplomatic way to frame that other than remarkable. Most people half his age wouldn't attempt it.

On a gray, damp January morning in Sacramento, these two got it done.