F35-39 at Cleveland: Ashton Swinford Runs Away With It

• Swinford's 2:44:36 at 6:17/mi put her atop the women's field from start to finish — she never relinquished 1st among women across any checkpoint.
• Sarah Lima's 2:55:08 secured 2nd in F35-39, powered by the 2nd-fastest women's split from 10K to the half.
• Maura Short made the most dramatic move of the group, climbing from 27th to 7th among women and posting the 2nd-fastest women's split over the final 3.7 miles — a stunning late charge on a warm, humid day.
• Kim Grebenc (3:13:33) and Elaine Reedy (3:11:25) both cracked the top 5 in F35-39, each clawing their way up the women's field across the second half of the race.

Ashton Swinford, 36, from Hudson, OH, delivered one of the cleaner dominant performances you'll see in any age group. She held 1st among women at every single checkpoint and backed it up with the fastest women's split of the 5K-to-10K segment — all while running a 6:17/mi average in 75-degree heat and 68% humidity. That's not a comfortable day for a 2:44 marathon. She simply didn't care.

Behind her, Sarah Lima ran a controlled, intelligent race. The Bay Village native sat 3rd among women through the first half before moving to 2nd — a position she earned with the 2nd-fastest women's split from 10K to the halfway point. She couldn't quite hold 2nd across the back half, slipping back to 3rd among women by the finish, but her 2:55:08 still stands as a clear 2nd in F35-39 and reflects a runner who knew exactly how to manage the conditions.

The story of the race beyond the top two belongs to Maura Short. The Palm Beach Gardens runner was barely in the picture through the early miles — 27th among women at 5K — but she ground her way through the field relentlessly, reaching 7th among women at the finish. The exclamation point: the 2nd-fastest women's split over the final stretch from 22.5 miles to the line. In heat that typically flattens late runners, Short was accelerating.

Kim Grebenc (5th, 3:13:33) and Elaine Reedy (4th, 3:11:25) both put together solid second halves to round out the top five. Grebenc's 11th-fastest women's split from 19.1 to 22.5 miles helped her climb from 30th to 14th among women — a quiet, steady effort that held up across 91 finishers in F35-39.