Women's Marathon: Shoemaker surges late to claim Napa

• Abigail Shoemaker wins in 2:35:48 (5:57/mi), breaking the women's course record of 2:38:29 set in 2022 — by 2 minutes and 41 seconds.
• The lead changed hands at the halfway point: Jennifer Sandoval ran the fastest women's split from 6.2M–10M and held the top spot through mile 20, only to be overtaken by Shoemaker's decisive half-marathon surge.
• Lauren Daniels held 3rd wire-to-wire, finishing in 2:44:55 with the 2nd-fastest women's split on the final stretch (20M–Finish) — a strong close from the Superior, CO runner.
• Kate Rye's late charge: Starting 7th, Rye ran the 4th-fastest women's split from 10M–13.1M and climbed to 5th by the finish in 2:50:48.

Abigail Shoemaker came to Napa and rewrote the record books. The 26-year-old from Brooklyn ran the Silverado Trail's net-downhill course at a 5:57/mi clip and crossed in 2:35:48 — besting the previous women's course record by 2:41. But it wasn't a front-running performance. Shoemaker sat in 2nd through the middle miles, tracking Jennifer Sandoval, who had seized the lead with the fastest women's split between miles 6.2 and 10. It wasn't until the 20-mile mark that Shoemaker moved back to the front — and once she did, she owned the race's fastest half-marathon split (10M–13.1M) as part of a sustained surge that Sandoval simply couldn't answer.

Sandoval finished a gutsy 2nd in 2:39:25 (6:05/mi) — a time that, on most days, wins this race. She led for the better part of 14 miles and ran the most aggressive mid-race split in the women's field, making Shoemaker work for every second of that gap. Lauren Daniels of Superior, CO was the model of consistency: 3rd at every single checkpoint, finishing 3rd in 2:44:55 at 6:17/mi and closing with the 2nd-fastest women's split of the final 10K. Rachel Miura (4th, 2:45:50) was similarly composed, holding 4th from start to finish and producing the 3rd-fastest women's split between miles 16.2 and 20.

Behind the podium, the women's field of 802 finishers was deep and competitive. Mary Powell (8th, 2:59:14) and Katherine Somers (9th, 2:59:21) were separated by just seven seconds, while Shadeh Makeen rounded out the sub-3:00 group in 10th at 2:59:39. Paula Johnston of Calgary closed out the top 20 in 3:09:12 at age 42 — a sharp performance on a course that, cool and breezy as it was at 55°F along the valley, still demands 26.2 honest miles.