Women's Marathon: Tessa Barrett Breaks the Course Record in Arlington

• Barrett wins in 2:34:07, a new women's course record, defending her 2024 title (2:39:35) and shaving more than five minutes off her own winning time.
• Meghan Sevcik runs 2:43:14 for a clear second, with Julie Hartenbach (2:47:51) and Madison Overby (2:48:36) rounding out the podium chase.
• Overby's late surge was the race's most dramatic move — she climbed from 9th at the halfway point all the way to 4th, posting the fastest women's split on the 40K-to-finish stretch.
• 12,338 women finished the course past Washington D.C.'s national monuments on a crisp 42°F morning.

Tessa Barrett didn't just defend her title — she rewrote the record books. The Arlington local ran 2:34:07, one second under the previous women's course record, at a 5:53/mi average that she held from wire to wire. She led the women's field at every checkpoint, never once surrendering the top spot, and posted the fastest women's split on the 5K-to-10K segment to signal early that this was a different kind of day. Her 2024 win here in 2:39:35 was impressive; this was something more.

Meghan Sevcik of Westminster, CO ran a composed and controlled race, sitting second from the opening miles all the way to the finish line in 2:43:14, never threatened for her position but never threatening Barrett either — a gap of more than nine minutes separated them at the tape. Behind her, Julie Hartenbach of Springfield, VA moved steadily through the field, climbing from 4th to 3rd by the halfway mark and holding there, finishing in 2:47:51 with the 3rd-fastest first-half split among the women.

The most compelling subplot in the women's race played out in the final kilometers. Madison Overby (Richmond, VA) and Megan Walsh (San Diego, CA) both made aggressive late moves — Overby charging from 9th at halfway to 4th at the finish in 2:48:36, Walsh peaking at 4th before settling into 5th in 2:48:42. Overby posted the fastest women's split on the 40K-to-finish leg; Walsh had the 3rd-fastest on that same stretch. Walsh also improved significantly on her 8th-place finish here in 2024 (2:53:57), taking more than five minutes off that time. Kate Ruffin (2:50:59), Liz Camy (2:52:24), and Paige Combs (2:52:44) filled out a competitive top eight on a morning that — cold, humid, and breezy as it was — clearly suited fast running.