Clark, 49, from Auburn, Calif., crossed the finish line at Bowers Mansion Regional Park in a time of 3 hours, 8 minutes and 42 seconds to win his first Silver State championship on a warm day in the Washoe Valley.
Anyone who follows ultra-distance running will not be surprised at this outcome, though, because Clark is a former American 24-hour run record holder and he completed the prestigious Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run 11 times between 1980 and 1988.
Seth Williams finished second in 3:11:58 and Bill Hine was third in 3:15:09. Three of the top four finishers overall were in the 40-49 age category and the fifth-place finisher overall was Jim Rucker of Walnut, Calif., who ran 3:21:16 to finish first in the 50-59 age division.
Denise Gilroy of Truckee ran 3:30:14 to emerge as the first woman. Connie Ridenour of Spokane, Wash., was the second woman in 3:40:31.
There were other winners in the multi-race event on Sunday.
Ryan Ress of Reno was virtually unchallenged on his way to first-place overall in the half-marathon with a 1:16:07 clocking.
There was some closer competition in the 10-kilometer run, where Ronald Tibaduiza of Reno outlasted Scott Young to win. Tibaduiza ran 32:43, two seconds faster than Young. Nick Bingham, also of Reno, was third in 34:04.
Carson City was represented in the top 10 of the 10-K, as Agustin Arroy finished fifth in 36:01, Erick Studenicka seventh in 37:16 and Dennis Brinson eighth in 37:29.
Lynice Anderson of Reno was the top woman in a time of 39:19.
Two Carson City entrants set the pace in the 10-K walk: Victoria Herazo and Bill Penner. Herazo, who competed as a racewalker for the U.S. at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympic Games, was first overall in a time of 52:22 that was just off the course record she set last year. Penner was second overall and first among the men in 1:01:29.
"I wanted to get the record and I think I would have except I took a wrong turn out on Franktown Road," Herazo said. "I followed the half-marathoners and I ended up going about 50 yards further than I should have. I figure I lost about 10 seconds there."
Herazo set the course record of 52:10 last year.
If nothing else, Sunday was a good trainer for the USA National 5-K Championships coming up this October in Kingsport, Tenn., and the national one-hour championships in Cambridge, Mass.
"My training has been going well and this will help me," said Herazo, who resides in Carson City but will be taking classes this fall at UNLV.
