Women's Marathon: Centner defends, Yanko surges late, Ross leads and fades in a three-way thriller

• Ann Centner wins in 2:43:06 — defending her 2022 Napa Valley Marathon title (2:38:29) and crossing at 6:13/mi, the fastest average pace among the 618 women finishers.
• Lauren Ross led at the halfway mark before fading to 3rd (2:45:58); Devon Yanko ran the fastest women's closing split (20M→Finish) to claim 2nd in 2:44:44.
• The podium was decided in the final 10K: Centner held her lead from mile 13.1 onward with the fastest women's split on that 13.1M→20M stretch; Yanko's late charge closed a 1:14 gap on Ross but couldn't catch Centner.
• Delaney Miller, 26, was the day's biggest mover: starting 8th among women and finishing 5th (2:54:47), posting the 4th-fastest women's split on the 13.1M→20M leg.

The 42°F morning in Napa was brisk but fast, and the women's race played out as a genuine tactical battle across three distinct phases. Lauren Ross of Portland set the early tempo, moving from 2nd at 10K to lead the women's field by the halfway point. But Centner, who crossed this same finish line first in 2022, was never far behind — sitting 2nd through the first half before striking hard on the 13.1M→20M stretch, where she posted the fastest women's split of that segment to retake the lead for good.

Devon Yanko, 40, ran a patient race from the back of the top three. She sat 3rd through every checkpoint until the final miles, where she unleashed the fastest women's closing split — 20M to the finish — to overtake Ross and seal 2nd place in 2:44:44. Ross, who had led at halfway, ultimately finished 3rd in 2:45:58, a 6:20/mi effort that was still a strong result but couldn't hold against Yanko's finishing kick or Centner's mid-race surge.

Centner's winning time of 2:43:06 is 4:37 slower than her own 2022 course record of 2:38:29 — the gap perhaps a reflection of the morning's conditions or the competitive demands of defending a title — but the result is the same: first place, again. Behind the podium, Sarah Gulli (4th, 2:51:12) and Delaney Miller (5th, 2:54:47) rounded out a strong top five, while Tatyana Mcgovern, 49, turned in a remarkable 3:06:37 for 15th to stand as one of the day's notable age-group performances.