M65-69 Half Marathon: Rod Camp Runs Away With It in Napa

• Rod Camp wins in 1:39:04 (7:33/mi), holding off Ruben Ramirez by 38 seconds in a tight battle at the front — the only two men in the group to break 1:40.
• Massive gap to the podium: Alan McGauran finished 3rd in 1:59:41 (9:08/mi) — nearly 21 minutes behind Camp.
• Closest battle of the day: McGauran (3rd, 1:59:41) and Richard Robinson (4th, 1:59:45) were separated by just four seconds after 13.1 miles in the rain.
• 18 finishers ranged from Camp's 7:33/mi to Paul Bowers' 11:54/mi (2:36:04), a spread of nearly an hour across the M65-69 field.

Rod Camp, 68, from nearby Saint Helena, delivered the dominant performance of the M65-69 race on a cold, wet March morning in Napa — 40°F, light rain, and 84% humidity making conditions anything but friendly. Running at 7:33/mi, Camp moved efficiently through the men's field, climbing from 174th among men at the first checkpoint to 158th at mid-race before settling at 165th at the finish. His middle segment (3.1M to 6.9M) ranked 150th-fastest among all men on that stretch — a strong sustained effort that kept Ramirez at arm's length throughout.

Ruben Ramirez, 67, of Alameda gave Camp the only real chase, finishing in 1:39:42 at 7:36/mi. His mid-race split on the 3.1M–6.9M segment ranked 156th among men — slightly slower than Camp's on that same stretch — and his gender place actually dipped from 161st back to 172nd over the final miles, suggesting Camp didn't just hold the lead, he extended it. Still, Ramirez's 1:39:42 was a fine result and left everyone else well behind.

Then came a gap that told its own story. Alan McGauran (66, Yountville) and Richard Robinson (66, Santa Cruz) waged the race's most dramatic duel, finishing 3rd and 4th in 1:59:41 and 1:59:45 respectively — four seconds apart after nearly two hours of running. McGauran was the faster man on the 3.1M–6.9M segment, ranking 427th among men there, but Robinson had moved from 402nd to 440th in the men's field across the race, suggesting McGauran closed the gap late to secure the podium spot by the slimmest of margins.

Behind them, Doug Demerritt (5th, 2:06:17) through Paul Bowers (18th, 2:36:04) filled out a M65-69 field that spanned the full spectrum of pace and purpose. Tom Worniak, 69 — the oldest finisher in the group — crossed 7th in 2:07:40, while Robert McCaffrey (9th, 2:12:46) and Theodore Hainline (10th, 2:14:58) kept the back half of the top ten tightly bunched. On a raw Napa morning, all 18 men earned their finish.