Napa Valley 5K: Brigid Ide dominates F70-74 with a commanding wire-to-wire win

• Brigid Ide, 74, wins in 37:19 — nearly 21 minutes clear of the rest of the F70-74 field, averaging 12:01/mi.
• Three-way photo finish for 2nd–4th: Carol Lazzaro (58:27), Elaine Neudeck (58:45), and Lori-Ann Vanderwoude (58:53) — separated by just 26 seconds across the board.
• Tightest battle of the day: Neudeck and Vanderwoude finished 3rd and 4th just 8 seconds apart, at 18:55/mi and 18:57/mi respectively.

Brigid Ide made the F70-74 race her own from the start. The 74-year-old from San Francisco crossed in 37:19 at 12:01/mi — a pace that left the rest of the field well behind and made the real contest a battle for the remaining spots on the podium. On a cool, humid morning along the out-and-back course from the marathon finish line, Ide's effort stood in a class by itself.

Behind her, Carol Lazzaro of Hanford brought it home in 58:27 to claim 2nd, running 18:49/mi. But she had company breathing down her neck the entire way. Elaine Neudeck of Angwin — racing practically in her backyard — finished 3rd in 58:45, and Lori-Ann Vanderwoude of Fair Oaks rounded out the field in 4th at 58:53. Those three covered just 26 seconds of racing over 3.1 miles, and Neudeck and Vanderwoude in particular were locked in a genuine duel — 8 seconds and a whisker of pace (18:55 vs. 18:57/mi) the only thing separating them at the line.

Four women in their seventies taking on a Napa Valley 5K on a breezy, overcast March morning — this is exactly the spirit the Kiwanis Club of Greater Napa built this race to celebrate. Ide won it decisively; the other three made sure the finish was anything but quiet.