M70-74: George Gonzales Dominates in Fresno Heat

• George Gonzales won the M70-74 group in 4:38:07 (10:36/mi), finishing more than 51 minutes clear of runner-up Michael Fitzgerald.
• Michael Fitzgerald steadily climbed the men's field across the second half, improving from 506th to 458th among men by the finish — the most consistent mover in the group.
• Michael Davis posted the strongest late push of the back half, recording the best split among M70-74 finishers on the 25.2M-to-finish stretch.
• Six men completed the M70-74 race on a warm November day in Fresno — 74°F under clear skies — a genuine test of endurance for any age.

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George Gonzales made the M70-74 race his own from early on. The 70-year-old Fresno native was running in the 275th position among men at the first checkpoint and, while he drifted back somewhat through the middle miles, he held his form well enough to finish 340th among men — a composed, controlled effort that no one in his group could touch. His 10:36/mi average over 26.2 miles in the heat tells the real story: steady, purposeful, and ultimately untouchable.

Behind him, Michael Fitzgerald of Madera made the race's most notable positional climb. Starting deep in the men's field, he worked his way from 506th to 458th by the finish, gaining ground at nearly every checkpoint. His best segment came between 18M and 19.8M, where he posted the strongest split of any M70-74 runner on that stretch. He crossed in 5:30:07 — 52 minutes back of Gonzales, but a clear second.

Michael Davis (6:00:05) and Patrick Rearden (6:15:53) rounded out the top four, separated by just under 16 minutes. Davis saved something for the closing miles, logging the group's fastest split from 25.2M to the finish. Joe Ballmer (6:29:32) was fifth, finding his best legs between 19.8M and 23M. Scott Browar of Coarsegold completed all 26.2 miles in 7:53:17 — finishing the job on a warm afternoon, which is its own achievement at 72.