W75-79: Jeannie Rice dominates as 14 remarkable women conquer NYC

• Jeannie Rice, 77, wins in 1:53:19 — an 8:39/mi average that put her more than 93 minutes clear of 2nd place.
• Closest battle on the day: Sue Landa (3:27:12) and Mary Newell (3:27:02) finished just 10 seconds apart for 2nd and 4th — with Christine Everett (3:48:12) and Roseanne Svihra (3:42:14) reshuffling the middle of the field.
• Mary Newell's closing surge: running the 6,222nd-fastest split among women on the final 20K-to-finish segment, she climbed from deep in the women's field to crack the top 8,250 women — the most dramatic late move in the W75-79 group.
• Field spread: 14 finishers, ranging from Rice's 1:53:19 to Daria Kelley's 5:02:19 — a window of over three hours across women aged 75 to 77.

On a crisp 40°F morning running from Prospect Park to Central Park, Jeannie Rice of Concord Township, OH made the W75-79 race her own from the start. The 77-year-old never relinquished the lead, and her 1:53:19 at 8:39 per mile wasn't just a win — it was a performance in a different universe from the rest of the field. She closed the race with the 1,271st-fastest women's split on the 20K-to-finish stretch, still moving with authority when others were grinding through their final miles.

Behind Rice, the real drama played out in the battle for the middle of the standings. Sue Landa (76, LaGrange, GA) and Mary Newell (75, New Haven, CT) ended up just 10 seconds apart — Newell in 3:27:02 for 4th, Landa in 3:27:12 for 2nd — but they got there very differently. Landa was steady throughout, while Newell produced the group's most eye-catching late charge, posting the 6,222nd-fastest women's split on the final segment to rocket up the women's field after 20K. Roseanne Svihra (75, Gillette, NJ) finished 11th on the clock at 3:42:14, but the placement reflects a field sorted by official chip time, not just the displayed figures.

Christine Everett (75, Missoula, MT) rounded out the top three in 3:48:12, while Bokyoung Kwon (75, Fishkill, NY) and Irene Hale (77, Helensburgh, Scotland) pushed past the four-hour mark at 4:00:31 and 4:05:44 respectively. At the back, Daria Kelley (77, Encino, CA) crossed in 5:02:19 — and every single one of these 14 women, from first to last, finished a half marathon through the streets of New York City at age 75, 76, or 77. That's the real headline.