Long Beach Marathon F35-39: Aquino surges late to claim the title

• Magda Aquino, 3:07:38 (7:09/mi) — wins F35-39 by 6:40 over Susan Peraza, posting the 10th-fastest women's split on the final 20M-to-finish stretch.
• Susan Peraza (3:14:18) and Sharon Wilkinson (3:19:01) complete the podium, with Peraza holding 14th-fastest and Wilkinson 16th-fastest women's split on the 5.5M–13.1M segment.
• Diana Castillo (3:23:54) and Sau Mui Yip (3:24:04) battle for 4th and 5th — just 10 seconds apart at the line, with Castillo posting the 21st-fastest women's split on the 13.1M–20M leg to make her move.
• 202 women finished in F35-39, with the top 20 ranging from 3:07:38 down to 3:51:46.

Magda Aquino's path to the F35-39 title was anything but smooth on paper. The 36-year-old from Los Angeles slipped from 8th to 13th among women through the middle miles before launching a decisive late charge — moving back up to 9th among women by the finish and clocking the 10th-fastest women's split on the 20M-to-finish stretch. That final surge, at a 7:09/mi average across the full race, was the story of the day: a runner who absorbed a mid-race drift and then answered emphatically.

Susan Peraza (3:14:18, 7:25/mi) was strong through the first half, posting the 14th-fastest women's split on the 5.5M–13.1M stretch and holding a steady position between 11th and 16th among women throughout. She finishes a clear second, 6:40 behind Aquino. Sharon Wilkinson (3:19:01, 7:35/mi) mirrored that mid-race strength — 16th-fastest women's split on the same segment — and was remarkably consistent in position all day, crossing third at 3:19:01.

The battle for fourth was one of the afternoon's tightest subplots. Diana Castillo of Long Beach moved from 25th to 21st among women on the 13.1M–20M leg — the 21st-fastest women's split there — and held off Sau Mui Yip by just 10 seconds (3:23:54 to 3:24:04) despite Yip posting the 26th-fastest women's split on the closing stretch. Cologne Trude (3:26:40, 7:53/mi) rounded out the top six, with Lizeth Medina Amador (3:31:31) and Xiaochen Guo (3:33:07) close behind in seventh and eighth.