San Francisco Marathon F20-24: Brooke Starn Surges Late to Claim the Crown

• Brooke Starn, 2:44:38 (6:17/mi): won the F20-24 field and posted the fastest women's split on the 14.95–18 mile stretch — the decisive move of the race.
• 25-minute gap at the top: Clara Lin's 3:09:59 put her firmly in 2nd, with Megan Worrel (3:17:49) rounding out the podium in 3rd.
• Madeleine Nicholson, 3:24:01: the biggest mover of the race — entering from 115th among women at the first checkpoint, she climbed all the way to 19th among women by the finish, 5th in the F20-24 field.
• Megan Worrel's closing surge: the 6th-fastest women's split on the 18–24 mile segment helped carry her from 43rd among women at mile 18 to 11th at the finish — and onto the podium.

In cool, damp conditions — 54°F and 94% humidity under overcast skies — 134 runners toed the line in the F20-24 field. For most of the first half, Brooke Starn sat comfortably in the top five among women, but the race's defining moment came between miles 14.95 and 18, where she posted the single fastest women's split of that segment. From 9th among women at the mile 18 checkpoint, she surged to 1st — and never looked back, finishing in 2:44:38 at a 6:17/mi clip.

Clara Lin ran a controlled, methodical race. She moved steadily through the women's field — from 25th at the first checkpoint to 7th by the final stages — and her 5th-fastest women's split on the 14.95–18 mile stretch shows she was building momentum through the back half too. Her 3:09:59 finish (7:15/mi) was good enough for a clear 2nd place, more than 25 minutes ahead of 3rd.

Megan Worrel, 22, out of Stanford, delivered the race's most compelling closing act. She was 60th among women at the opening checkpoint, grinding through the middle miles before unleashing the 6th-fastest women's split from mile 18 to 24. That surge rocketed her to 11th among women at the finish and 3rd in the F20-24 field at 3:17:49. Isabella Chao (3:23:22, 4th) and Madeleine Nicholson (3:24:01, 5th) rounded out a tightly contested top five, separated by just 39 seconds.