Kaua'i Marathon F45-49: Cicio edges Smith in a 70-second thriller

• Maria Cicio won the F45-49 group in 3:36:35 (8:16/mi), holding off Rachael Smith by just 70 seconds — the closest battle on the podium.
• Cicio posted the 4th-fastest women's split on the 6.55 Miles→Half segment; Smith ran the 3rd-fastest women's split on that same stretch, yet Smith couldn't convert her mid-race edge into the win.
• Becca Tudor finished 3rd in 4:17:34 — nearly 40 minutes back — but closed with the 3rd-fastest women's split on the 24.15 Mile→Finish segment, a strong surge to the tape.
• The field of 13 spanned over two hours from first to last: Cicio's 3:36:35 to Bernadette Juarez's 5:42:00.

In 77°F humidity on Kaua'i's coast, the F45-49 race came down to a two-woman contest at the front. Maria Cicio and Rachael Smith ran within striking distance of each other through the first half, with Smith actually holding 3rd among women to Cicio's 7th at the early 6.55-mile mark. Smith ran the 3rd-fastest women's split on that opening stretch — but Cicio was right behind her with the 4th-fastest, and by the halfway point Cicio had climbed to 5th among women while Smith sat 3rd. The lead swapped and shifted through the back half, and when it mattered most, Cicio came through first: 3:36:35 to Smith's 3:37:45.

Behind the podium, the story was one of patient climbing. Kari Ingalls started 30th among women and worked her way up to 21st by the finish, taking 5th in the age group at 4:25:09. Becca Tudor, meanwhile, ran a measured race before uncorking the 3rd-fastest women's closing split from mile 24.15 to the finish — a reminder that Telluride altitude training may have left her legs fresher than most when the course got hard. Tudor's 4:17:34 was good for 3rd, more than 39 minutes clear of 4th-place Bethanne Kapansky Wright's 4:21:29.

The back half of the field spread across a wide range of efforts, from Edyta Zylak's 4:29:57 through to Bernadette Juarez's 5:42:00, with the humid Kaua'i conditions visibly taking their toll as the miles mounted. Thirteen women finished — every one of them.