San Francisco 5K M60-64: Vetter Dominates in a Field Spread Across 34 Minutes

• Douglas Vetter, 64, wins in 23:51 — a 7:41/mi clip that left the field nearly 5 minutes behind.
• Tightest battle of the day: Chuck Louden (4th, 36:27), David Harrell (5th, 36:45), and Wojtek Niedziolka (6th, 36:59) were separated by just 32 seconds across three spots.
• Widest field in the race: 19 finishers in M60-64, with a 34-minute, 16-second gap from first to last.
• Oldest on the podium: Vetter and 3rd-place Chris Gaughan were both 64 — the oldest athletes in the field — with Gaughan finishing in 33:32.

Douglas Vetter, representing Jackson, MS, made the foggy San Francisco morning look straightforward. His 23:51 finish at 7:41 per mile wasn't just a win — it was a statement. Ramon Curiel of Menlo Park took 2nd in 28:34 (9:12/mi), a solid performance in its own right, but Vetter's margin of 4 minutes and 43 seconds meant there was never much drama at the front. At 64, Vetter was also among the oldest men in the field, which makes the pace all the more striking.

The real racing drama unfolded in the middle of the pack, where three San Francisco Bay Area runners converged in a tight 32-second window. Chuck Louden of San Francisco crossed 4th in 36:27, David Harrell — also of San Francisco — came in 5th just 18 seconds later in 36:45, and Wojtek Niedziolka of Gluszyca rounded out that cluster in 36:59. Angelito Dayrit (7th, 38:19) wasn't far behind, keeping that stretch of the race genuinely competitive.

Chris Gaughan of Antioch claimed the final podium spot in 33:32 at 10:48/mi, comfortably clear of the 4th-through-6th cluster. Behind him, the field spread considerably — Phillip Chao finished 8th in 40:23, Jorge Moreno Sanchez Carreon 9th in 42:27, and Jim Feenan 10th in 45:01, before the back half of the field stretched well past the 49-minute mark. Kenneth Miner of Laurel, MD, closed out the 19-man field in 58:07 — a 34-plus-minute span from Vetter's winning time, testament to the range of effort and pace across this group on a cool, damp San Francisco morning.