Boilermaker 5K F35-39: Perrin pulls clear in the Utica heat

• Melanie Perrin wins in 22:36 (7:16/mi), finishing 44 seconds ahead of runner-up Emily Romeo — a commanding margin in a 246-woman field.
• Romeo's 23:20 (7:31/mi) holds second comfortably; Lisa Suders (24:31) and Tia Remington-Bell (24:35) battle hard for the final podium spot, separated by just four seconds.
• Molly Schafer rounds out the top five in 24:46 (7:58/mi), completing a tight pack where places 3–5 are covered by only 15 seconds.
• Kate Stanley and Stacey Barnard both clock 27:45 — with places 17 and 18 decided by timing finer than the display, a genuine near-dead-heat finish deep in the field.

Melanie Perrin of Manlius, NY, made her intentions clear from the start and never let up. Running 7:16/mi across the 5K in 75°F heat and 90% humidity, she crossed in 22:36 — a time that would have been impressive on a cool morning, let alone a thick, muggy July day in Utica. The win was never seriously threatened; by the time Emily Romeo hit the line in 23:20, Perrin had already put 44 seconds between them.

Romeo's 23:20 (7:31/mi) was a strong run in its own right, but the real drama played out just behind her. Lisa Suders of Schenectady crossed in 24:31, with Tia Remington-Bell of Brooklyn nipping at her heels four seconds later at 24:35. Those two ran noticeably different paces — Suders at 7:53/mi, Remington-Bell at 7:55/mi — meaning Suders held the edge throughout rather than being caught at the wire. Molly Schafer (Whitesboro, NY) closed out the top five in 24:46, making places 3 through 5 one of the tightest sub-groups of the afternoon.

Further back, the field spread across the 26- and 27-minute range, with Jacqueline Palermo (26:10) leading a steady procession through to Ashley Kain's 28:09 in 20th. The humidity clearly made every second earned — and with 246 finishers in the F35-39 field, every one of them earned it.