Cleveland Half Marathon F60-64: Navratil Holds On for the Win

• Susan Navratil (Rocky River, age 63) won the F60-64 age group in 1:52:55 — an 8:37/mi pace — finishing more than 2 minutes ahead of runner-up Eileen Meisler.
• Eileen Meisler (Pepper Pike, age 62) ran the 206th-fastest women's split on the 10K-to-12.6-mile stretch, powering from outside the top 390 among women early on all the way to 2nd in the age group by the finish.
• Elizabeth Brown and Brenda Stauffer (7th and 8th) were separated by just 3 seconds at the line — 2:06:08 to 2:06:11 — the tightest battle of the day in the F60-64 field.
• 45 women finished in the F60-64 age group, with the top 20 spanning from 1:52:55 down to 2:36:23.

Susan Navratil came out of Rocky River swinging. She went through the opening 5K near the front of the women's field — 110th among women — but the warm, humid Cleveland morning (75°F, 68% humidity) had a way of sorting runners out, and Navratil was no exception. Her gender ranking drifted steadily through 10K, the half, and the finish, sliding to 223rd among women by the tape. But within the F60-64 age group, none of that mattered: she was untouchable, crossing in 1:52:55 and never relinquishing the lead where it counted.

The more dramatic story was Eileen Meisler's surge. She started the race well back — nearly 400th among women at the 5K mark — before steadily reeling in the field. Her strongest stretch came between 10K and 12.6 miles, where she posted the 206th-fastest women's split on that segment, a move that ultimately locked up 2nd place in 1:55:01. Sue Kunar (Kent, age 60) rounded out the podium in 1:56:22, herself climbing through the women's field across the back half. Michele Sollenberger made perhaps the biggest swing of all: she was 510th among women at 10K before rallying all the way to 4th in the age group by the finish.

Down the leaderboard, the race within the race belonged to Elizabeth Brown and Brenda Stauffer. The Mansfield and Akron runners were locked together through the final miles and finished 3 seconds apart — 2:06:08 and 2:06:11 respectively — with Brown just edging Stauffer for 7th. On a warm afternoon in Cleveland, 45 women in their 60s covered 13.1 miles, and every gap in that group was earned the hard way.