Women's Marathon: Herzog dominates from wire to wire in Bismarck

• Jackson Herzog, 3:05:27 — led every checkpoint and posted the fastest women's split on the 2.5M–4.8M stretch, winning by nearly 14½ minutes.
• Podium gap: Anna Jones (3:20:01, 2nd) and Emma Reeder (3:22:29, 3rd) were separated by just 2:28, with Reeder posting the 2nd-fastest women's split on the 16.1M–18.5M segment to lock down her place.
• Lindsay Carl's charge: Starting 11th among women, the 46-year-old from Kaysville, UT climbed steadily to finish 5th (3:41:19), aided by the 3rd-fastest women's split on the 16.1M–18.5M segment.
• Veteran standout: Heli Uusitalo, 58, of Fort Collins, CO crossed in 3:46:56 (7th), while 63-year-old Kay Evans finished 11th at 3:53:53 — two of the most impressive efforts in a 62-woman field.

Jackson Herzog made the women's race look simple, and that's the hardest thing to do over 26.2 miles. The 23-year-old from Detroit Lakes, MN held first place at every single checkpoint, running a 7:04/mi average on a cool, humid morning in Bismarck. Her fastest women's split on the 2.5M–4.8M segment signaled early that no one was catching her, and no one did — her winning margin of nearly 14½ minutes over Anna Jones was as decisive as it gets.

Behind her, the battle for the podium had a bit more drama. Anna Jones, the hometown runner from Bismarck at 23, held second place wire-to-wire at 7:38/mi, finishing in 3:20:01. Emma Reeder, 20, of Brainerd, MN came through fourth at the first checkpoint but had worked her way into third by the second and never looked back, running a 7:43/mi average and posting the 2nd-fastest women's split on the 16.1M–18.5M segment. Sara Fenstermaker, 38, of Fredericksburg, PA rounded out the top four in 3:28:46, contributing the 3rd-fastest women's split on the late 21.9M–23.8M stretch.

The most compelling climb through the field belonged to Lindsay Carl. The 46-year-old from Kaysville, UT was 11th among women at multiple early checkpoints, then steadily picked off runners through the back half — aided by the 3rd-fastest women's split on the 16.1M–18.5M segment — to finish 5th in 3:41:19. It was a textbook negative-split surge through a competitive field.