Women's Boilermaker 15K: Loleo Takes the Title in a Three-Way Thriller

• Veronica Loleo wins in 49:36 (5:19/mi), holding the lead wire-to-wire and posting the fastest women's split on the 5K–10K stretch.
• Three seconds separated the top two: Grace Loibach Nawowuna finished 2nd in 49:39 — one year after winning this race outright in 49:18.
• Edna Kiplagat, 45, claims 3rd in 50:06 — a podium finish against a deep field of 3,721 women.
• Jessie Cardin's late charge: running the 3rd-fastest women's split from 10K to the finish, she moved from 7th to 5th, crossing in 50:27.

Utica's notorious July humidity — 90% on race morning — made every second matter, and Veronica Loleo of Voorthuizen made the most of them. She sat atop the women's standings at every checkpoint, never relinquishing her lead, and turned the screws hardest in the middle stretch, posting the fastest women's split from 5K to 10K. Her 49:36 finish at 5:19/mi was enough to hold off a fierce challenge from a defending champion.

That challenger was Grace Loibach Nawowuna, who arrived in Utica with a title to defend. The 21-year-old from West Chester had won this race in 49:18 last year, and she ran a disciplined race — 2nd at every checkpoint, posting the 2nd-fastest women's split on the 5K–10K segment — but could not quite close the gap, finishing 2nd in 49:39, three seconds behind Loleo. That margin is the entire story of the women's race: a three-second battle over 9.3 miles.

The most remarkable name on the podium may be the one in 3rd. Edna Kiplagat, 45, from Longmont, ran a steady 5:23/mi to finish in 50:06, matching the top four's checkpoint order from gun to tape and never wavering. Rachael Chebet was 4th in 50:23, and Cynthia Jerotic Limo — who stood on this same podium in 2024 with a 3rd-place 49:20 — crossed 6th this year in 51:04, a reminder of how much the front of this field compressed.

Further back, Annamaria Kostarellis of Rochester gave the local crowd something to cheer about with a 7th-place 51:19, while Daiana Ocampo (8th, 51:30) and Megan Hasz (9th, 51:54) rounded out a top ten that stayed within two and a half minutes of the winner across a humid, hard-fought morning in Utica.