Napa Valley Marathon 5K — F60-64: Reinkemeyer Wins in a Brisk Battle at the Front

• Natalie Reinkemeyer (1st, 27:53, 8:58/mi) took the F60-64 title with a 30-second cushion over runner-up Jacqueline Gunn.
• Jacqueline Gunn (2nd, 28:23) and Pam Hendrickson (3rd, 28:55) kept the podium tight — just 62 seconds spanning all three spots.
• Janet Mccann (4th, 29:41) and Verona Lyn-Manning (5th, 30:23) rounded out the front five within the first three minutes of the winner's finish.
• Catherine Weber completed the 18-woman field in 1:01:48 — more than double Reinkemeyer's winning time, a testament to the range of effort across the group.

On a crisp 42°F morning in Napa, Natalie Reinkemeyer of Lake Forest set the tone from the gun, crossing in 27:53 at an 8:58/mi clip to claim the F60-64 title. Her margin of 30 seconds over Jacqueline Gunn was decisive — Gunn, at 64 the oldest athlete on the podium, ran a composed 28:23 (9:08/mi) to hold off a late charge from the field and lock up second.

Pam Hendrickson (3rd, 28:55) made it a genuinely competitive top three, finishing just 32 seconds behind Gunn and less than a minute behind the winner. The podium was settled within the first 62 seconds of racing after Reinkemeyer crossed the line — a tight cluster in what was a fast, focused front pack. Janet Mccann (4th, 29:41) and Verona Lyn-Manning (5th, 30:23) kept pace through the five-place mark before a noticeable gap opened to the rest of the field.

From 6th onward, the race spread out considerably. Jude Choy (6th, 35:37) and Mary Jo Taylor (7th, 36:18) ran together at around 11:30/mi, finishing five-plus minutes behind Lyn-Manning. The middle of the pack — Rita Marquez (8th, 39:07) through Stacy Mcdonald (9th, 43:12) — each carved out their own race on the Napa course. At the back, Cindy Richter (11th, 48:18), Sheila Christian (12th, 48:25), and Ghina Yeh (13th, 48:28) finished in a remarkably compressed cluster — just 10 seconds separating all three — before Nina Mossman (17th, 59:09) and Catherine Weber (18th, 1:01:48) brought the full 18-woman field home.