San Francisco Marathon 2025 — F25-29: Bandt surges through the hills to take the crown

• Carly Bandt, 2:53:03 (6:36/mi) — won the F25-29 race, climbing from 7th to 2nd among women on the Garmin Hill Challenge segment and locking in the victory with the 3rd-fastest women's split on that pivotal stretch.
• Madeleine Nakada, 2:55:16 — ran 2nd in F25-29, posting the 3rd-fastest women's split on the 6.52–10.87 mile stretch and holding a top-5 women's position for most of the race before fading slightly in the final miles.
• Liv Paxton, 3:02:03 — rounded out the F25-29 podium, backed by the 7th-fastest women's split on the opening 1.81–5.55 mile segment.
• Jenny Xu, 3:03:44 — the biggest mover in the top 10, advancing from 16th among women at the start to 9th by the finish, with the 5th-fastest women's split from mile 25 to the line.

Cool, foggy San Francisco conditions — 56°F and 93% humidity — greeted 504 finishers in the F25-29 field on Sunday. The race's defining moment came on the Garmin Hill Challenge segment, where Carly Bandt of San Francisco delivered the 3rd-fastest women's split of anyone in the race. That surge vaulted her from 7th to 2nd among women and effectively decided the F25-29 title. She crossed in 2:53:03 at a 6:36/mi clip — more than two minutes clear of runner-up Nakada.

Madeleine Nakada had looked like the one to beat through the middle miles. The New Yorker ran 2nd or 3rd among women through much of the first half, and her 3rd-fastest women's split on the 6.52–10.87 mile stretch showed real firepower on that stretch. But the hills took their toll: Nakada slipped from 2nd to 5th among women in the closing miles and finished 2nd in F25-29 at 2:55:16. Liv Paxton (3:02:03) came home 3rd, having established her position early with the 7th-fastest women's split on the opening segment, then held steady through a field that was moving around her all day.

Kaitlin Tanner (4th, 3:03:00) and Jenny Xu (5th, 3:03:44) were separated by just 44 seconds — with Xu making up considerable ground late, posting the 5th-fastest women's split from mile 25 to the finish after starting 16th among women. Behind the top five, a tight cluster from Mackinly Kifer (6th, 3:18:14) through Lane Schoettes (10th, 3:22:05) covered just under four minutes across five finishers, underscoring how competitive the middle of this F25-29 field was across the full 26.2 miles.