F65-69 at Barks & Brews 5K: Robin Diamond Runs Away With It

• Robin Diamond won the F65-69 age group in 29:44 — a 9:35/mi pace that put more than 5½ minutes between her and runner-up Carolyn Meredith Simpson.
• Simpson (35:23) and Karen Barsch (40:01) claimed 2nd and 3rd, separated by 4 minutes 38 seconds.
• The F65-69 field spanned a wide range: from Diamond's 9:35/mi to Cynthia Misono's 21:38/mi, a spread of over 12 minutes per mile across 18 finishers.
• A tight cluster formed near the back: Debby Nimrick (59:51) and Karen Taylor (59:52) finished just one second apart, with Chrys Larson (1:00:05) only 13 seconds further back.

Robin Diamond made this one look straightforward. The 68-year-old Sacramento native crossed in 29:44 — a 9:35/mi clip — and her 78th-fastest women's split on the closing mile to the finish underscores that she wasn't coasting. She held her position among the women's field from the 1-mile mark all the way to the line, a sign of a composed, consistent effort on a warm Memorial Day morning in Sacramento.

Behind Diamond, Carolyn Meredith Simpson ran a solid 35:23 to take 2nd, though the gap to the winner was decisive. Simpson did give some ground in the final stretch — her women's field place slipped from 145th at the mile to 162nd by the finish — suggesting the 73°F heat may have taken a toll late. Karen Barsch (3rd, 40:01) and Michelle Plato (4th, 41:49) rounded out the top four, with the pair separated by under two minutes.

The real drama in this group played out deep in the field. Beverly Shimizu (5th, 47:38) and Louise Echols (6th, 48:16) were within 38 seconds of each other, and the stretch from 12th through 16th place — Lynn Ortiz through Chrys Larson — was packed into a span of just over one minute. Debby Nimrick and Karen Taylor essentially ran identical races, finishing at 59:51 and 59:52, with the timing system separating them by a single second. All 18 women finished, a full house on a sunny Sacramento afternoon.