Kaua'i Marathon F60-64: Nakazawa Runs Away With It in the Heat

• Chikako Nakazawa won the F60-64 age group in 5:53:02 (13:28/mi), finishing more than 27 minutes clear of the field.
• Theresa Chazick and Alison Dye staged a remarkable duel, crossing in 6:20:00 — Chazick edging 2nd by less than half a second over Dye's 3rd.
• Nakazawa climbed from 104th to 88th among women across the race, posting the 67th-fastest women's split on the final stretch from 24.15 miles to the finish.
• Rosemarie Shepley ran into trouble mid-race, slipping from 97th to 114th among women by the halfway mark and never recovering ground.

Chikako Nakazawa, 60, from Tokyo made the trip to Poipu count. Running at 13:28 per mile through 77°F heat and sticky humidity, she built a lead that was never seriously threatened, finishing in 5:53:02 — the only F60-64 finisher under six hours. Her women's field place improved steadily throughout, moving from 104th at the first checkpoint all the way to 88th by the finish line, a sign of a runner who got stronger as others faded in the conditions.

The real drama unfolded behind her. Theresa Chazick of Goodrich, MI and Alison Dye of Flushing, MI — both 62 — ran each other into the ground over 26.2 miles and arrived at the finish line in what the clock called 6:20:00 for both. But the timing chips told a finer story: Chazick claimed 2nd by 0.48 of a second. Chazick had her best relative moment on the 22.25-to-24.15-mile segment, posting the 99th-fastest women's split there, while Dye's strongest stretch came earlier, with the 102nd-fastest women's split from the half to 22.25 miles.

Amy Patrick-Melin (Stow, OH) held steady in 4th at 6:27:20, though her women's field place drifted from 106th to 111th over the second half, suggesting the heat took a toll. Shepley's race told a starker story — she was 97th among women through the early miles but had fallen to 114th by the halfway point and finished there, crossing in 6:34:24. Patricia Sklenka of Springfield, IL rounded out the six-finisher group in 6:50:00, completing a tough day for the back half of the F60-64 field on a demanding Kaua'i course.