Boston F40-44: Sara Hall Blazes to Age-Group Glory at the 128th Boston Marathon

• Sara Hall wins in 2:25:48 (5:34/mi), posting the fastest women's split on the 20K-to-half segment and climbing to 17th among all women by the finish.
• Edna Kiplagat finishes 2nd in 2:34:40 — a 9-minute gap back — while Hanna Lindholm rounds out the podium in 3rd at 2:39:16.
• 4th and 5th separated by just 19 seconds: Lynda Gingras (2:45:22) and Julie Lajeunesse (2:45:41) ran nearly identical finishing times after trading positions throughout the second half.
• 1,878 women finished in F40-44, making this one of the deepest age groups on the point-to-point Hopkinton-to-Copley Square course.

In cool, drizzly conditions — 49°F, a 10 mph wind, and 90% humidity — Sara Hall turned in a commanding performance across the Newton Hills and Heartbreak Hill. Running at 5:34/mi, she wasn't just winning her age group; she was racing the entire women's field. Her moves tell the story: she sat 20th among all women at the 10K mark and steadily climbed, locking into 17th by the halfway point and holding it all the way home. Her 20K-to-half split was the fastest of any woman on that stretch — an aggressive mid-race surge that defined her day.

Edna Kiplagat had a very different race arc. She entered the top 20 among women early, sitting 15th at the first checkpoint, but gradually faded through the back half — sliding to 31st among women by the finish. She still crossed in 2:34:40 at 5:54/mi, good for 2nd in the age group, but the race clearly got harder as it went on. Hanna Lindholm was more consistent in her fade, drifting from 28th to 39th among women while finishing 3rd in 2:39:16 (6:04/mi).

The battle for 4th and 5th was one of the afternoon's tightest sub-plots. Lynda Gingras (Ontario) and Julie Lajeunesse (Quebec) swapped positions repeatedly through the second half — Lajeunesse actually ran the 30K-to-20-mile segment as the 49th-fastest women's split, while Gingras posted the 50th-fastest women's split from the half to 25K. Gingras ultimately edged ahead, 2:45:22 to 2:45:41, a 19-second margin after 26.2 miles of racing. Behind them, Gina Rouse (6th, 2:46:22), Kerin Hempel (7th, 2:49:03), and a tight cluster from Natasha Bliss through Riva Muehlbauer all finished between 2:49:42 and 2:52:26 — a deep, competitive field right through the top 20 and well beyond.