M70-74: Jim Snow Runs Away with It at 5:38 Per Mile

• Jim Snow, 70, wins in 2:27:47 — a 5:38/mi average that left the rest of the M70-74 field more than 38 minutes behind.
• Ezequiel Jimenez (3rd, 3:06:49) edged Ward Sullivan (2nd, 3:08:04) by 1:15 at the line despite Sullivan running a faster 13.1M→20M segment — a late-race catch-up that narrowly fell short.
• Chul Soo You (5th, 3:36:35) gained ground steadily through the back half, climbing from 2,831st to 2,242nd among women between miles 13.1 and 20 — the clearest surge in the M70-74 field over that stretch.
• 22 men completed the M70-74 race, ranging from Snow's 2:27:47 to a field that stretched well past five hours.

Jim Snow simply ran a different race from everyone else in the M70-74 field. His 5:38/mi pace — sustained over 26.2 miles on a warm, humid Long Beach morning — produced a winning time of 2:27:47 that stood more than 38 minutes clear of the next finisher. That gap isn't a rounding error; it's a statement. Snow was moving fast enough to post the 54th-fastest split among women across the 5.5M-to-13.1M stretch, a stretch where he also climbed from 185th to 96th in the women's standings before the field eventually reasserted itself in the closing miles.

Behind Snow, the race for second and third produced the afternoon's most compelling subplot. Ezequiel Jimenez of La Puente crossed in 3:06:49, edging Ward Sullivan of Long Beach — the hometown runner — who finished in 3:08:04. The twist: Sullivan ran a faster 13.1M-to-20M segment than Jimenez, trimming the gap, but couldn't complete the overtake. Jimenez held on by 1:15, making that middle-to-late surge by Sullivan a story of ground made up but not quite enough.

Further back, Chul Soo You (5th, 3:36:35) put together the most visible back-half move in the group, rising steadily through the women's standings from mile 13.1 onward. Blandino Asuncion (6th, 3:40:50) and John Voorhis (7th, 3:42:00) were separated by just 70 seconds, while the field spread out considerably beyond that — Jose Antonio Riquelme Morales (10th, 4:22:56), traveling from Guadalajara, and Lucius Clark (20th, 5:20:43) among those who kept moving through 72-degree heat to the finish line.