M50-54 at Peachtree: Gary Moore Runs Down the Field

• Gary Moore wins in 37:09 (5:59/mi) — the only finisher in M50-54 to crack the 6:00/mi barrier.
• Chadwick Hales takes 2nd in 37:41, 32 seconds back; Eric Boykin claims 3rd in 38:33, another 52 seconds behind.
• 4th and 5th separated by one second: Michael Farry (38:52) edges Chris Ngo (38:53) for the final top-five spot.
• 1,807 finishers made M50-54 one of the deepest fields on the course on a warm, humid Fourth of July morning.

Gary Moore came to Peachtree with a plan and executed it mile by mile. Starting the men's race around 234th among all men, Moore steadily climbed — reaching as high as 197th by mile four — before settling at 226th at the finish. That mid-race surge through miles two and three was the decisive move, and his 5:59/mi average tells the story plainly: nobody else in M50-54 was moving at that clip. On the mile-two-to-three segment alone, his split ranked among the faster efforts across the entire men's field.

Chadwick Hales ran the opposite race. Out fast — sitting 170th among men after the first mile — Hales gradually ceded ground as the 75°F humidity took its toll, sliding to 262nd by the finish. The result was still a strong 37:41 and a well-earned 2nd place, but the gap to Moore widened as the miles wore on. Eric Boykin, meanwhile, was the story of the back half: entering mile five around 530th among men, he reeled in runners relentlessly, finishing 333rd — a charge that included one of the stronger closing splits in the M50-54 field on the final mile-to-finish segment.

The battle for 4th was the closest of the day. Michael Farry (38:52, 6:15/mi) and Chris Ngo (38:53, 6:15/mi) ran nearly the entire race in proximity, with Farry holding on by a single second. Ngo's strongest segment came between miles four and five, where his split ranked well among the men's field, but Farry had just enough of a cushion to hold the position. Behind them, Peter Dapice (6th, 39:02) and Ben Owens (7th, 39:19) rounded out a tight top seven before Ernest Cooper (8th, 40:02) marked the first finisher past the 40-minute mark in M50-54.