F30-34 at CIM 2024: Schmitt dominates while the podium packs tight

• Rebecca Schmitt won the F30-34 age group in 2:35:07 (5:55/mi), finishing 14th among all women — more than 11 minutes clear of second place.
• The podium's 2nd through 4th spots were separated by just 45 seconds: Curcuru (2:46:14), Wang (2:46:47), and Birchett (2:46:59).
• Saige Schuller ran the most dramatic race in the top 10, climbing from 65th among women at the finish after starting well back — and posting the 31st-fastest women's split on the 40K-to-finish stretch.
• A field of 617 finishers in F30-34 made this one of CIM's deepest age groups on the day.

Rebecca Schmitt turned the F30-34 race into a solo time trial from the gun. Starting 41st among women, the 32-year-old from Edgewood, NM, steadily threaded her way through the field — 30th by 5K, 27th by 10K, and all the way up to 14th by the finish. The decisive stretch came between 35K and 40K, where she posted the 3rd-fastest women's split in that segment across the entire women's field. At 5:55 per mile for 26.2 miles, she didn't just win the age group — she put 11 minutes and 7 seconds between herself and everyone chasing her.

Behind Schmitt, the real drama was a three-way scramble for the podium. Margaux Curcuru (2:46:14), Alex Wang (2:46:47), and Shanna Birchett (2:46:59) finished within 45 seconds of each other, each holding remarkably consistent positions in the women's field throughout the race. Wang was the sharpest in the 15K-to-20K window — 44th-fastest women's split in the field on that segment — while Birchett's best work came between 20K and the half. Curcuru's strongest segment landed between 30K and 35K, where she put up the 52nd-fastest women's split in the field. Three different athletes, three different moments of strength — and barely any daylight between them at the line.

Saige Schuller's race told a different story altogether. Sitting 113th among women at the first checkpoint, she ran herself all the way up to 65th by the finish, including the 31st-fastest women's split on the 40K-to-finish segment — one of the sharpest closing kicks in the women's field. Her 2:48:59 earned 5th in F30-34 and hints at what a more aggressive early pace might have produced.