M60-64 at Napa Valley Half Marathon: Giraldo Edges North in a Front-Runner Battle

• Julio Giraldo wins in 1:33:54 (7:10/mi), taking the M60-64 title by 48 seconds over Mark North's 1:34:42.
• North surged the middle miles, posting the 113th-fastest men's split on the 3.1M→6.9M segment — the strongest mid-race split of the top two — but Giraldo answered with the 97th-fastest men's split on the back half to seal it.
• A tight cluster at 5th–7th: Henry Su (1:49:11), Michael George (1:49:16), and Andrew Miller (1:49:24) — all running 8:20–8:21/mi — separated by just 13 seconds across three finishers.
• James Semien's fade was the sharpest story in the field: he entered the 6.9M checkpoint running among the men's top 161, but finished 231st among men — a significant drift over the back half.

Julio Giraldo crossed in 1:33:54 to claim the M60-64 title on a cool, humid Napa morning. His 7:10/mi average was the class of this group, and his back-half strength was decisive — after sitting just outside the top two among men at 6.9 miles, he reeled in positions to post the 97th-fastest men's split on the 6.9M-to-finish stretch. That's not a man hanging on; that's a man racing through the tape.

Mark North of Lancaster, PA ran a smart and competitive race, finishing 2nd in 1:34:42 at 7:13/mi. His best work came in the middle segment, where he posted the 113th-fastest men's split from 3.1M to 6.9M and moved from 128th to 123rd among men. He held that position into the finish — a consistent, controlled performance that earned the runner-up spot by 48 seconds. Scott Dailey of Davis, CA rounded out the podium in 3rd at 1:42:36 (7:50/mi), more than eight minutes behind North but a clear step ahead of the rest of the field.

The race's most dramatic arc belonged to James Semien of Fairfield, CA. He was running 136th among men through the early miles, slipped to 161st by the midpoint, and faded to 231st by the finish — a 4th-place M60-64 result in 1:44:26 that tells the story of a runner who spent his chips early. Meanwhile, the 5th-through-7th cluster of Su, George, and Miller — all finishing within 13 seconds across a 1:49:11–1:49:24 window — made for one of the tightest three-way battles of the morning.