Kaua'i Marathon F25-29: Nelson Leads Wire to Wire in the Tropical Heat

• Alexandra Nelson won the F25-29 group in 4:16:56 (9:48/mi), finishing 14th among all women — a gap of more than eight minutes over runner-up Maria Machado.
• Lacy Morice stormed from 69th among women at the start to 28th by the finish, posting the 13th-fastest women's split on the final stretch from mile 24.15 to the line.
• Lesya Lackey and Claire Devine crossed in an almost identical 5:10:55 — Lackey edged ahead by just 0.14 seconds to claim 14th in the age group.
• The top five were all 27 or 29 years old, with no 25- or 28-year-old cracking the podium.

Alexandra Nelson ran the most controlled race in the F25-29 field. She entered the women's standings at 23rd through the first checkpoint, then surged to 14th by the halfway mark — posting the 13th-fastest women's split on that 6.55-mile-to-half segment — and held that position all the way to the tape. At 9:48 per mile across 26.2 miles on a warm, humid Kaua'i morning (77°F, 69% humidity), that kind of even-handed execution is hard to argue with. Maria Machado (4:25:30) claimed second but faded through the back half, sliding from 17th among women at the midpoint to 22nd by the finish.

The most dramatic journey of the day belonged to Lacy Morice. Starting deep in the women's field at 69th, she steadily reeled in competitors through the first half, reaching the mile-24.15 mark in 30th. Then she turned on the jets: her split from mile 24.15 to the finish was the 13th-fastest among all women, lifting her to 28th overall among women and 3rd in the age group at 4:32:45. Mia Richards (4th, 4:38:21) and Nadia Jackson (5th, 4:40:54) also ran strong closing legs, with Jackson recording the 23rd-fastest women's split between miles 22.25 and 24.15.

Down the leaderboard, the race within the race was Lesya Lackey versus Claire Devine. Both clocked 5:10:55 on the display, but the timing chip told the real story: Lackey crossed the line 0.14 seconds ahead to take 14th in the age group. Meanwhile, Lexi and Karly Shonko — finishing 18th and 19th — recorded an identically displayed 5:52:36, separated by just 0.28 seconds. A day of close calls in the back half of the F25-29 field.