Cleveland Half Marathon: Jennie Rice Wins F75-79 in Dominant Fashion

• Jennie Rice crossed in 1:50:13 (8:24/mi), claiming 1st in the F75-79 age group by a margin of 1:17:31 over the only other finisher.
• Rice posted the 148th-fastest women's split on the 5K→10K segment — a standout middle stretch that put her well clear in the age group.
• Maggie Savoy, 79, finished in 3:07:14 at 14:19/mi, completing a demanding 13.1 miles in 75°F heat and 68% humidity — no small feat at any age.

The F75-79 age group had just two finishers in Cleveland, but the story is worth telling: these are two women in their late seventies running a half marathon on a warm, humid May morning in Ohio. That alone commands attention.

Jennie Rice, 78, from Painesville, ran with genuine purpose. Her 8:24/mi average is not a shuffle — it's a controlled, confident pace that held together across the full 13.1 miles. Her strongest segment came in the 5K-to-10K stretch, where she posted the 148th-fastest women's split in the entire women's field. Among thousands of women of all ages, that's a meaningful mark. Her gender place tracking — moving from 159th to as high as 150th before settling near 165th — reflects a race run with steady effort rather than a dramatic surge or fade.

Maggie Savoy, 79 and from Elyria, covered the same course at 14:19/mi, finishing in 3:07:44. The gap to Rice was wide, but the context matters: Savoy is a year older, the heat and humidity were real factors on race day, and she kept moving through the back half of the course as her gender place actually improved from the 10K to the finish — a sign she was managing her effort rather than unraveling.

Two finishers. One age group. Both women crossed the line in Cleveland having done something most people their age — or any age — would never attempt.