F25-29 Half Marathon: Gustafson dominates in Folsom heat

• Laura Gustafson won the F25-29 group in 1:25:51 (6:33/mi), finishing 2nd among all women in the field.
• Julia Freimuth, the local Folsom runner, claimed 2nd in 1:36:13 — a comfortable 10-minute gap back, holding 4th among women throughout.
• Jordan Poczobutt and Maya Young separated 3rd and 4th by just 8 seconds (1:51:48 vs. 1:51:56), with Young making the more dramatic run — climbing from 18th to 11th among women by the finish.
• The F25-29 field spanned over 2 hours and 43 minutes from first to median finisher, reflecting a wide range of paces across 19 runners.

With 74°F temperatures and humidity pushing 60% on race day in Folsom, Laura Gustafson of Rocklin ran a controlled, powerful race. She sat 2nd among women through the Mile 4 checkpoint and held that position all the way to the tape — posting the 2nd-fastest women's split on the Mile 4-to-Mile 10 stretch. At 6:33/mi, her pace was a full 47 seconds per mile faster than runner-up Julia Freimuth, and the gap was never really in doubt.

Freimuth, racing in her hometown, was equally steady. She ran 4th among women from start to finish, never wavering from her position, and crossed in 1:36:13 at 7:20/mi. It was a composed, well-managed effort that left the rest of the F25-29 field well behind.

The most compelling subplot played out in the battle for 3rd. Jordan Poczobutt of San Francisco came in 3rd in 1:51:48, but Sacramento's Maya Young made her presence felt in the back half — charging from 18th among women at the early checkpoint all the way to 11th by the finish, posting the 8th-fastest women's split from Mile 10 to the line. She closed to within 8 seconds of Poczobutt, but the gap held. Monica Cedeno rounded out the top five in 1:58:22, also a strong mover in the second half, climbing from 22nd to 15th among women.