Boston 2026 F75-79: Sharlet Gilbert Leads a Field of 14 Who Earned Every Step

• Sharlet Gilbert won the F75-79 group in 4:16:30 (9:47/mi), finishing nearly 8 minutes clear of runner-up Char Cooper (4:24:10).
• Donna Pierson and Sue Landa staged the day's tightest battle — separated by just 37 seconds (4:31:46 vs. 4:32:23) after 26.2 miles.
• Kathryn Parks was the group's strongest finisher in the back half, posting the 9,294th-fastest women's split on the 35K-to-23M stretch — her best segment of the day as she climbed from 11th to 5th in the women's field during that span.
• All 14 starters finished, with the field spanning from Gilbert's 9:47/mi to Margaret Woisin's 13:47/mi — a 4-minute-per-mile spread across the F75-79 group.

Sharlet Gilbert of California ran a composed, controlled race — but not a passive one. She started in a solid position among the women, then drifted back through the middle miles before steadily reeling in places from mile 21 onward, ultimately settling at her finishing spot among the women's field. Her 9:47/mi average is the standard by which the rest of the F75-79 field measured itself today, and her margin of nearly eight minutes over second place was decisive.

Char Cooper of Indiana ran the opposite kind of race — a steady, progressive climb through the women's field. From her position among the women at the 10K mark, she picked off runners checkpoint by checkpoint, moving forward at every split before a slight dip in the final stretch. Her 10:05/mi average held firm, and she secured second in the F75-79 group by nearly eight minutes over third.

The real drama in the group played out between Sue Landa (Georgia) and Donna Pierson (Arizona) for the final podium spot. Pierson was actually ahead of Landa for most of the race — she ran a strong early stretch, posting the 9,985th-fastest women's split in the opening 5K-to-10K segment, but faded progressively through the second half as Landa closed. Landa, meanwhile, found her best running late, recording the 9,463rd-fastest women's split on the 23M-to-24M stretch. By the finish, Landa had nipped Pierson by 37 seconds — a gap that felt enormous to earn and razor-thin to hold.

Jan Brett, running on home soil in Massachusetts, finished 6th in 4:50:46, and the field's back half ran times ranging from just over five hours to just over six. Margaret Woisin crossed last in 6:01:31 — still a Boston Marathon finish, still a number that matters.