Women's Half Marathon: Carpenter Defends, and the Podium Barely Budged

• Laurel Carpenter won in 1:25:39 at a 6:32/mi clip — one second faster than her 2025 winning time of 1:25:40, posting the fastest women's split on the back half of the course (HALF→11.05 Mile).
• The top five finished in the same order as 2025, each trimming exactly one second off their prior year's time — a remarkable echo across a field of 935 women.
• Becca Taylor was the race's one shaker: she ran 4th through the opening stretch before surging to 3rd by mile 11, posting the 3rd-fastest women's split on that closing segment to lock up the podium.
• Rachel Miura was the other mover, climbing from 8th early to 6th at the midway check and ultimately 5th in 1:34:57, backed by the 4th-fastest women's closing split.

Laurel Carpenter came to Poipu with a title to defend and left with it intact. The 28-year-old from Miami Beach ran a nearly identical race to 2025 — 6:32/mi through the heat, humidity, and 13 mph wind — and shaved a single second off her winning time to cross in 1:25:39. Her fastest women's split on the HALF-to-11.05-mile segment was the exclamation point: she wasn't just holding on, she was still pressing.

Right behind her, Tara Kaur of Sedona ran a controlled 6:42/mi to finish 2nd in 1:27:45 — again one second better than her 2025 runner-up effort. The top two were separated by 2:06, a gap that never really changed shape. What did shift was the battle for third: Lisa Simon held 3rd through the early miles at 7:12/mi pace, but Becca Taylor reeled her in across the closing segment, running the 3rd-fastest women's split there to edge ahead. Taylor finished 3rd in 1:31:32; Simon settled for 4th in 1:34:26 — a 2:54 gap at the line.

Further back, Rachel Miura's climb from 8th to 5th was the most dramatic move of the morning, her 4th-fastest closing split doing the heavy lifting in 84°F heat. Dawn Worley (6th, 1:36:11), Lauren Lund (7th, 1:37:31), and Cadera Smith (8th, 1:37:43) rounded out a tight cluster, followed by Amy Hanley (9th, 1:38:28) and Melissa Jamerino (10th, 1:38:45) to close the top ten.