Masters Women Half Marathon: Clayton commands a frigid Rocket City

• Jenny Clayton won the Masters Women race in 1:32:23 (7:03/mi), finishing 10th among all women — and she closed with the 10th-fastest women's split on the final 6.8-mile stretch to seal it.
• Kathryn Dahir, 58, claimed 3rd in 1:36:20 — the oldest athlete on the podium by 14 years, outrunning a 331-woman field's worth of younger rivals.
• The top-5 were separated by just 8 minutes and 54 seconds, with each finisher picking up ground on the women's field in the back half.
• Jill Pompi (58, Adams, MA) and Teresa Berlin (59) both cracked the top 15, underscoring how deep the over-50 contingent ran on a brutal 29°F morning.

With a 16 mph wind and temperatures locked at 29°F, the Masters Women at Rocket City 2025 had every reason to play it safe. Jenny Clayton did not. The Franklin, TN 48-year-old ran 7:03 per mile from gun to tape, held 10th place among all women through both halves of the race, and punctuated it with the 10th-fastest women's closing split from 6.8 miles to the finish. That's not a defensive race — that's a controlled demolition.

Julie Vieselmeyer gave her a fight worth noting. The Madison, AL local crossed in 1:33:58 — a 7:10/mi effort that moved her from 12th to 11th among women in the back half — and her closing split was 14th-fastest among all women. A 1:35 gap to Clayton at the line tells the story of a race decided early and defended well. Kathryn Dahir rounded out the podium in 1:36:20, and at 58 she was the oldest of the three — a detail that makes her 7:21/mi average considerably more impressive in context.

Kelly Burt and Jennifer Hom filled out the top five in 1:39:04 and 1:41:17 respectively, both also gaining ground on the women's field over the closing miles. Behind them, the Masters Women field ran deep and wide: 331 finishers in all, with Jill Pompi (11th, 1:49:35) and Teresa Berlin (13th, 1:50:09) — both 58 or 59 — proving that the cold and the wind were equal-opportunity obstacles that the experienced runners in this field knew exactly how to handle.