SF Half Marathon F35-39: Usubyan Runs Away With It

• Nina Usubyan won F35-39 in 1:21:09 (6:11/mi), finishing 3rd among all women — more than 5 minutes 44 seconds clear of 2nd place.
• Stephanie Tondow ran the 13th-fastest women's split on the 4.9M→11.9M segment, helping her hold 2nd in a field of 198.
• 3rd through 5th place finished within 2 minutes 38 seconds of each other, with Brett Nickisch (1:30:00), Elise Peck (1:30:10), and Maya Rossin-Slater (1:32:38) all trading ground across the race's segments.
• 11th and 12th place — Inga Hemmert and Victoria Richmond — both clocked 1:42:31, with the timing chip separating them.

Nina Usubyan turned this into a statement performance from the gun. Running at 6:11/mi, she moved from 9th among all women at the first checkpoint to 8th, then surged all the way to 3rd by the 11.9M mark — and held it to the finish. That closing segment was no accident: she posted the 2nd-fastest women's split from 11.9M to the finish line, a kick that underlined just how controlled and calculated her race was. Her 1:21:09 wasn't just a win in F35-39; it put her on the women's podium overall.

Behind her, Stephanie Tondow (1:26:53, 6:38/mi) ran a composed and steady race, climbing from 18th among women at the opening checkpoint to 13th by the midpoint on the strength of the 13th-fastest women's split on the 4.9M–11.9M stretch. She never looked back, finishing a clear 2nd in F35-39. Brett Nickisch (1:30:00, 6:52/mi) and Elise Peck (1:30:10, 6:53/mi) made it a tight battle for the final podium spot — just 10 seconds separated them at the line — with Nickisch posting the 19th-fastest women's closing split to secure 3rd.

Maya Rossin-Slater (1:32:38, 7:04/mi) was the field's most notable closer, moving from 38th among women at the first checkpoint all the way to 26th by the finish, thanks to the 23rd-fastest women's split on the back half. Lauren Bishop (1:36:35) and Jennifer Lee (1:38:02) rounded out the top seven, followed by a tight cluster — Jacqueline Todak (1:38:29), Laura DeBenedetto (1:38:35), and Thia Angelo (1:39:04) — all finishing within 35 seconds of each other.