Barks & Brews 5K: Cindy Gobel Owns the F70-74 Field

• Cindy Gobel won the F70-74 age group in 31:51 (10:15/mi), more than seven minutes clear of second place.
• Pam Sammons turned in the strongest finish among the top three, posting the 223rd-fastest women's split on the closing mile while moving up 20 places among women — the biggest position gain in the group.
• Kathy Okins and Diane Miller were separated by just 55 seconds at the finish, with Okins edging ahead despite Miller having held a higher position among women earlier in the race.
• Seven women aged 70–73 finished on a warm Sacramento morning — a field worth celebrating in its own right.

Cindy Gobel of Williams made this one look controlled from the start. Running at 10:15/mi, she crossed in 31:51 — a margin of 7:13 over runner-up Karin Boston that left no drama about the top spot. Gobel moved from 98th to 105th among women on the closing stretch, posting the 110th-fastest women's split on that final segment, a solid close to a dominant effort.

Boston (39:04) and Sammons (42:15) rounded out the podium, separated by 3:11. What made Sammons's run notable was direction: while Boston moved back in the women's field over the final mile, Sammons surged forward, climbing 20 places among women with the 223rd-fastest closing split — the sharpest upward move of anyone in the F70-74 group.

Behind the podium, the race tightened up considerably. Okins (54:00) and Miller (54:55) were locked in a 55-second battle for fourth and fifth, with Miller actually holding a higher women's field position earlier before Okins pulled away on the closing leg. Kitty Sherman (1:03:17) and Marilyn Currington (1:05:19) brought it home to complete a seven-woman field — all of them running a 5K in 73-degree heat, which deserves its own acknowledgment.