F45-49 at CIM 2024: Cushman Cracks 2:57 to Take the Age Group

• Anne Cushman (Rancho Cordova, CA) won the F45-49 age group in 2:57:00 — a 6:45/mi average — becoming the only finisher in the group to break three hours.
• Andrea Wilson and Samantha Feldman completed the podium at 2:58:18 and 2:59:51, making it an all-sub-3:00 top three across 314 finishers.
• Feldman's late surge was the standout momentum story: she entered the women's field around 245th at 5K and climbed all the way to 183rd by the finish, posting the 132nd-fastest women's split on the 25K–30K stretch.
• Places 5 and 6 — Elissa Ballas (3:04:51) and Seanna Robinson (3:04:56) — were separated by just five seconds after 26.2 miles.

Anne Cushman had the race of the F45-49 field from the gun. Running at 6:45/mi through Sacramento's flat, fast course, she held a lead that was never seriously threatened. She drifted slightly through the women's standings across the second half — moving from 123rd among women at 10K to 135th at the finish — but within her age group, the margin told the real story: 1:18 back to Wilson in second.

Andrea Wilson ran a model of consistency, sitting 166th among women at both 5K and 10K before quietly reeling in rivals through the back half to finish 156th. Her 15K–20K segment ranked 153rd among women, evidence of a steady, measured build rather than a dramatic surge. Samantha Feldman took the opposite approach entirely — she was well back at the opening checkpoint but found another gear between 25K and 30K, posting the 132nd-fastest women's split on that stretch and climbing more than 60 places in the women's field over the final third of the race. It nearly earned her a sub-3:00 finish; she crossed in 2:59:51.

Fourth through sixth were a tight cluster. Kathy Pearman (3:04:27) and Elissa Ballas (3:04:51) both moved steadily forward through the second half, while Seanna Robinson of Toronto held Ballas to just five seconds at the line. Behind them, Melissa Cooney, Niki Desjardin, and Christina Rooney were stacked within 41 seconds of each other — a competitive mid-pack that underscores just how deep this age group ran at CIM.