M75-79: John Hollingsworth edges Philip Hollingsworth in a family battle

• John Hollingsworth, 78, wins the M75-79 group in 2:31:55 (11:35/mi), holding off his nearest challenger by just 1 minute 20 seconds.
• The top two finishers share the Hollingsworth name — John of Fowler and Philip of Fresno running side by side through most of the race before John pulled clear.
• James Shepard, 78, of Coarsegold completes the three-man group in 2:46:58 — nearly 15 minutes back of the winner.
• All three men ran the second half of the course faster than the first, each gaining ground in the men's field on the 10K-to-finish stretch.

In a three-man M75-79 field on a warm November morning in Fresno — 74°F under clear skies — the story wrote itself almost too neatly: two men named Hollingsworth, racing each other across 13.1 miles. John, 78, of Fowler, and Philip, 75, of Fresno ran closely enough through the early miles that their men's field positions tracked nearly identically — both sitting in the 670s at the first checkpoint. But John was the one who found another gear when it counted.

Over the 10K-to-finish segment, John put the race away. He climbed from 632nd to 581st in the men's field across that final stretch, gaining more than 50 places on the field while averaging 11:35 per mile for the full half. Philip matched him stride for stride in spirit — also moving up sharply, from 630th to 589th — but couldn't quite close the 1:20 gap that separated them at the line.

James Shepard, also 78 and making the trip from Coarsegold, told a different story. He actually ran down the men's field in the back half, slipping from 570th to 645th to 650th as the miles added up, finishing in 2:46:58 at 12:44 per mile. The heat and the distance had their say. Still, completing a half marathon at 78 in any weather is no small thing — and Shepard did it.

Three men, all in their late 70s, all finishing a half marathon in the California heat. John Hollingsworth takes the M75-79 title — but the margin over his fellow Hollingsworth was tight enough to make the ride home from Fresno interesting.