F60-64 at CIM 2021: Chalat Runs Away With It

• Erin Chalat, 61, wins the F60-64 age group in 3:08:55 — a 7:12/mi average that put her nearly four minutes clear of the field.
• Terri Cassel takes 2nd in 3:12:52 (7:21/mi), the only other finisher under 3:30 in a 107-woman age group.
• Patricia Fasola surges late, climbing from deep in the women's field to claim 3rd in 3:27:46 with the strongest 40K-to-finish split among the top five.
• 5th and 6th separated by just 16 seconds: Rosaura Tennant (3:39:41) edged June Lee (3:39:57) in a tight battle for the bottom of the top five.

Erin Chalat of Cape Elizabeth ran the F60-64 age group at the 2021 California International Marathon like a woman with somewhere to be. Her 3:08:55 — 7:12 per mile across all 26.2 — was a statement performance on a cool Sacramento morning. She entered the women's field at 303rd place and spent the first half working her way up to 274th, then made a decisive push through 40K to reach 269th, before settling to 288th at the line as fresher legs in other age groups came home late. None of that mattered in F60-64: she was untouchable.

Terri Cassel of Tulsa ran a very different tactical race. She sat at 329th in the women's field at 15K before drifting back through the middle miles, bottoming out near 373rd at the half. But she steadied, and her 3:12:52 finish — 7:21/mi — was good enough for a clear 2nd place, nearly 15 minutes ahead of 3rd. The real mover in the age group was Patricia Fasola of Newport Beach, who started conservatively (1,117th among women at 15K) and reeled in runner after runner all day long, posting the strongest 40K-to-finish split in the top five to land 3rd in 3:27:46.

The race for 4th and 5th had its own drama. Lanore Bergenske, 64, of Fortuna held steady throughout for 4th in 3:34:41 (8:11/mi). Then Rosaura Tennant of Pinole and June Lee of Montebello staged a quiet duel over the final miles — Tennant clocking 3:39:41 and Lee finishing just 16 seconds back in 3:39:57 to take 6th. Cory Benson of Sacramento rounded out the top seven in 3:41:32, racing on home turf. All told, 107 women finished the F60-64 age group, a deep and competitive field on a fast course.