W65-69: Susan Miller Runs Away With It in New York

• Susan Miller won the W65-69 age group in 1:49:17 (8:20/mi), more than four minutes clear of runner-up Gordon Bakoulis (1:53:32).
• Gordon Bakoulis, racing on her home streets in New York, was the strongest mover of the top three — climbing from outside the top 2,300 among women at the start to 1,399th by the finish.
• Candace Stanton (1:56:03) held 3rd throughout, never dipping below 1,936th among women at any checkpoint, and closed solidly with one of the stronger second-half splits in the group.
• The top three were separated by just 6:46, while 4th through 6th spanned a wide 15:29 — a sharp drop-off that underscored how dominant the podium was.

Forty degrees and a light breeze off the New York streets made for fast conditions, and Susan Miller made the most of them. The Del Mar, California runner moved steadily through the women's field across the first half, sitting around 1,336th among women at the 10K mark, then surged decisively in the second half — cracking the top 1,120 among women by the finish. Her 8:20-per-mile average held up wire to wire, and no one in the W65-69 group came close to matching it.

Gordon Bakoulis, a New Yorker running her own city's half, put together the most dramatic climb of any top finisher. She was outside the top 2,300 among women early, but chipped away at that deficit with each checkpoint — 2,165th, then 1,970th, then 1,841st — and posted the 1,211th-fastest women's split from 20K to the finish to seal 2nd place in 1:53:32. Candace Stanton of Kinnelon, NJ rounded out the podium in 1:56:03, running a measured race that never wavered far from her early position and finishing with a strong second-half split of her own.

Behind the podium, Tracy Dover (1:59:57, 9:09/mi) slotted into 6th — just under the two-hour mark — while Reva Krieger and Tanya Roy filled 4th and 7th respectively, the gap between them stretching to nearly 19 minutes. Maureen Joyce, at 69 the oldest finisher in the listed results, crossed in 2:49:11 to claim 9th. Across all 153 finishers in the W65-69 group, the field reflected the full range of what it means to race a New York half marathon at this stage of a running life.