F35-39 at Peachtree: Mercy Cherono Dominates in 32:36

• Cherono wins by 2:50 — the largest margin on the podium, finishing in 32:36 (5:15/mi) to Risper Biyaki's 35:26.
• Biyaki holds steady — sitting 19th among women at the first checkpoint, she maintained that band through all six splits to finish 2nd in F35-39 at 5:42/mi.
• Gina Domaoal surges late — the Decatur runner moved from 62nd among women at the opening split all the way to 53rd by mile 5, posting the 49th-fastest women's split on the 3M→4M segment to lock up 3rd.
• A tight 4th-through-6th — Lauren Nesselroad (39:45), Amelia Shea (39:57), and Jennifer Huwe (40:34) were separated by just 49 seconds across three finishers.

Mercy Cherono ran away from a field of 2,369 on a warm, humid Fourth of July morning in Atlanta. Her 32:36 — a 5:15-per-mile clip through the Georgia heat — wasn't just a win; it was a statement. She moved from 7th among women at the opening mile all the way up to 4th by mile 3, briefly touched 10th as the field reshuffled in the back half, and still crossed the line more than a minute clear of the nearest woman in the entire women's race. Her 4th-fastest women's split on the 2M→3M stretch was the engine of that early surge.

Risper Biyaki ran a composed, measured race to claim 2nd. She never strayed far from the 20th position among women across any segment, and her 21st-fastest women's split on that same 2M→3M stretch shows she was pushing through the race's most competitive mile. At 35:26 and 5:42/mi, she finished nearly four minutes behind Cherono but well clear of the rest of the field.

The battle for 3rd was the race's most compelling subplot. Gina Domaoal of Decatur came in 62nd among women at mile one and worked her way forward all afternoon, with her strongest move coming on the 3M→4M leg. Lauren Nesselroad and Amelia Shea — running 6:24 and 6:26 per mile respectively — couldn't quite reel her in, finishing 39 seconds and 51 seconds back. Huwe, Kaitlin Lopez, and Brooke Weinstein rounded out a competitive top eight, all within 47 seconds of each other from 6th through 8th place.