F35-39: Katie Rinder Runs Down the Field Late to Claim the Crown

• Katie Rinder wins in 3:06:04 (7:06/mi), posting the 8th-fastest women's split on the final 20M-to-finish stretch to lock up first place in the F35-39 field.
• Molly Trachtenberg surges mid-race, running the 10th-fastest women's split from 13.1M to 20M and climbing from 17th to 11th among women before finishing 2nd in 3:09:07 — 3:03 back.
• Lauren Lovelace rounds out the podium in 3:11:17, moving steadily from 20th to 16th among women on the strength of the 13th-fastest women's closing split.
• A 32-second window separates 6th through 7th: Sara Gibson (6th, 3:27:30) and Heidi Daulton (7th, 3:28:02) ran the closest battle outside the top five.

Racing under a cold, rainy Napa morning — 41°F and drizzle — Katie Rinder didn't wait for the race to come to her. She started conservatively enough (13th among women at the halfway mark) but never fell far off the pace, and when the field thinned in the back half, she turned the screws. Her 7:06/mi average held firm to the finish, and that 8th-fastest women's closing split tells the real story: Rinder was getting stronger as others were getting tired, climbing from 14th to 10th among women in the final stretch and taking the F35-39 title by three minutes.

Molly Trachtenberg ran a textbook negative-split middle. She sat 17th among women through 13.1 miles, then unleashed the 10th-fastest women's split on the 13.1-to-20-mile stretch, surging all the way to 11th. The final miles cost her some ground — she slipped back to 14th among women at the line — but her 3:09:07 was more than enough to hold second place in the F35-39 field. Lauren Lovelace, also a steady mover, went from 20th to 16th among women and closed in 3:11:17 to claim third, her 13th-fastest women's closing split a quiet but effective finishing kick.

Behind the podium, the race stayed competitive deep into the field. Michelle Laughlin (4th, 3:23:07) and Aiza Golledge (5th, 3:25:29) were separated by 2:22, with Golledge notably sliding from 34th to 39th among women in the final segment — a sign the late miles took their toll. From 6th through 10th, five runners finished within six minutes of each other, headlined by the Gibson-Daulton duel that came down to just 32 seconds. Across 91 finishers, the F35-39 field delivered a full afternoon of racing worth watching from wire to wire.