M65-69: De La Higuera Galán Runs Away from the Field in San Francisco

• Emilio José De La Higuera Galán (Valladolid) won M65-69 in 3:36:43 (8:16/mi), finishing more than 8 minutes clear of second place.
• Closest battle on the podium: Bob Daley (3:47:12) edged Izaak De Bruijne (3:50:42) for third by just under 3:30.
• Glenn Kishiyama (Fremont) ran his best stretch between miles 14–16, posting the 511th-fastest men's split on that segment as he climbed from 1,029th to 883rd among all men — a decisive mid-race surge that locked up second in 3:45:17.
• A deep international field: winners hailed from Valladolid, Amersfoort, Bilbao, Mexico, and Moravia alongside California and beyond, across 54 finishers in M65-69.

Emilio José De La Higuera Galán made his intentions clear early and never let up. Starting around 884th among men, he spent the first half of the race methodically climbing — by mile 22 he had worked up to 768th, and then came the move that sealed it: the 346th-fastest men's split on the 22-to-24-mile stretch drove him from 768th all the way to 640th among all men by the finish. At 8:16/mi through 59°F winds along the San Francisco waterfront, the 68-year-old from Valladolid crossed in 3:36:43 — a commanding wire-to-wire performance.

Glenn Kishiyama (3:45:17, 8:36/mi) ran a patient first half before unleashing a strong miles-14-to-16 segment that catapulted him from 1,029th to 883rd among men. He held that momentum well enough to claim second, finishing 8:34 behind the winner. Third went to Bob Daley of Chagrin Falls, OH, who actually ran his sharpest miles early — his 713th-fastest men's split came in the 6-to-8-mile window, when he surged to 822nd among men. But the pace cost him later; by the finish he had drifted back to 953rd among men and crossed in 3:47:12 (8:40/mi), just 1:55 ahead of Izaak De Bruijne (Amersfoort, 3:50:42).

Fifth place went to Jose Ignacio De Velasco Perez of Bilbao (3:57:52, 9:04/mi), completing a notably international top five. Jonathan Mayes, Igor Ermilov, and Fran Key Chen — all San Francisco locals — finished 6th through 10th in a tight cluster between 4:09 and 4:14. Paul Goodwin (4:29:46) and David Ching (4:33:59) rounded out a strong middle tier, while the field extended 34 finishers deep beyond the top 20.