M75-79: Kim Conquers Napa at 79

• Myung Joon Kim won the M75-79 race in 3:58:36 (9:06/mi), climbing from 491st to 348th among men across the course.
• Pat Connolly completed the marathon in 5:25:47 (12:26/mi), finishing 2nd in M75-79.
• Kim's final 10K was his strongest relative stretch — his 20M→Finish split ranked 245th among all men in the field.
• The two-man M75-79 field was separated by 1:27:11.

In a field of just two, Myung Joon Kim made his intentions clear from the opening miles. Racing at 79 years old through a crisp 39°F Napa morning, Kim held a steady 9:06/mi pace and spent the entire race moving forward through the men's field — from 491st at the first checkpoint all the way to 348th by the finish. That's a climb of 143 places, built methodically across 26.2 miles.

The closing stretch told a particularly sharp story. From mile 20 to the finish, Kim posted the 245th-fastest split among all men — a strong late-race effort that underscored his pacing discipline. He crossed in 3:58:36, a sub-4-hour marathon at age 79.

Pat Connolly, 75, of Menlo Park, finished the course in 5:25:47 at 12:26/mi. Running at a more measured tempo, Connolly also moved through the men's field in the final miles — from 708th at mid-race to 669th at the finish — and completed all 26.2 miles in conditions that tested every finisher. He takes 2nd in M75-79.

The gap between them — 1 hour, 27 minutes, and 11 seconds — reflects two very different races run on the same cold Napa morning. But both men finished a marathon that most people decades younger never attempt, and Kim's sub-4 at age 79 is the number that will define this race's M75-79 story.