Cleveland Half Marathon F35-39: Zangmeister Dominates in the Heat

• Jessica Zangmeister won the F35-39 age group in 1:25:12 (6:30/mi), finishing 4th among all women — a margin of more than five minutes over runner-up Alanna Bellanca.
• Heather Tress was the strongest closer in the group, posting the 8th-fastest women's split on the final stretch (12.6M to the finish) to move from 19th to 12th among women and lock up 3rd in F35-39.
• Saki Wilson faded after a strong opening — running the 16th-fastest women's split on the 5K–10K segment — but slipped from 10th to 19th among women by the finish, dropping her to 4th in the age group.
• Elizabeth Kampf and Sloane B By both crossed in 1:40:07, with timing separating them into 9th and 10th.

On a warm, humid Cleveland morning — 75°F with 68% humidity — Jessica Zangmeister made the F35-39 race look almost straightforward. She held 4th among all women from the 5K mark all the way through the tape, never wavering, and her 6:30/mi average across 13.1 miles was a full 25 seconds per mile faster than anyone else in the age group. That kind of consistency in those conditions is worth noting.

Behind her, the battle for the podium was anything but settled. Alanna Bellanca ran the 8th-fastest women's split on the 5K–10K segment to climb steadily from 12th to 9th among women, finishing in 1:30:34 to claim 2nd. Heather Tress, meanwhile, was the story of the back half — she was 19th among women at 12.6 miles and used the strongest closing split of anyone in the age group to surge to 12th among women and 3rd overall in F35-39, crossing in 1:31:20. The gap between 2nd and 3rd was just 46 seconds.

The middle of the field told a tale of the heat taking its toll. Saki Wilson had the speed early — 16th-fastest women's split in the 5K–10K — but faded considerably over the final miles, finishing 4th in 1:33:44. Samantha Smith ran the opposite kind of race, steadily picking off competitors through the middle segment to finish 5th in 1:34:03. With 326 finishers in the F35-39 age group, this was one of the deepest fields of the day, and the top-to-bottom competition reflected it.