Women's Marathon: Paige Moore Edges Out a Thrilling Battle at Long Beach

• Paige Moore wins in 2:55:13 (6:41/mi), trading the lead four times before seizing it for good in the final stretch.
• Top four separated by just 2:58 — Salena Gallardo Dominguez 2nd in 2:56:23, Hope Stark 3rd in 2:58:10, Sophia Carcamo 4th in 2:58:11.
• Stark and Carcamo surged through the middle miles, both posting top-four women's splits on the 13.1M→20M segment to rocket from outside the top ten into podium contention.
• Gallardo Dominguez closed hardest of all, running the 3rd-fastest women's split from 20M to the finish to lock up 2nd place.

Paige Moore, 24, from Rancho Palos Verdes, didn't make this easy on herself or anyone watching. She swapped the lead with rivals at every checkpoint — sitting 2nd, then 1st, then 2nd, then 1st — before finally holding the top spot where it mattered most. Her 6:41/mi average and the 2nd-fastest women's split on the 5.5M→13.1M segment showed she was doing the work in the middle of the race, and it paid off with a 1:10 margin over runner-up Gallardo Dominguez at the line.

Salena Gallardo Dominguez, 30, from nearby Redondo Beach, ran a patient race — sitting 4th through the first half and 5th at mile 20 — before unleashing one of the strongest closing kicks in the field. Her 3rd-fastest women's split on the final 20M-to-finish stretch brought her home in 2:56:23, good for 2nd place. Behind her, the battle for 3rd was decided by a single second: Hope Stark (2:58:10) edged Sophia Carcamo (2:58:11). Both had been buried in the pack at the halfway mark — Stark 7th, Carcamo 8th — but their identical 3rd- and 4th-fastest splits on the 13.1M→20M segment propelled them onto the podium. Stark faded just slightly in the final miles while Carcamo, 19, held on for 4th, a remarkable run for the youngest finisher in the top ten.

Megan Hansen, 27, told a different story — she was 3rd at 5.5 miles and 2nd at the half, running the 3rd-fastest women's split on that early segment, but faded to 7th by mile 20 before recovering to finish 5th in 3:03:56. Keely Berger (6th, 3:04:35) and Christian Espinoza (7th, 3:06:03) rounded out a competitive lead pack, with the top seven all finishing under 3:07 in warm, humid conditions — 72°F and 73% humidity on a clear October morning in Long Beach.