San Francisco Marathon 2025: Rachel Devenow Wins F40-44 in a Relentless Late Surge

• Rachel Devenow, 41 (Playa Vista, CA) wins in 3:18:35 (7:34/mi), climbing from 47th among women at the first checkpoint to 16th by the back half before closing strong.
• Kate Kelp-Stebbins, 44 (Eugene, OR) finishes 2nd in 3:19:08 — just 33 seconds back — after running the 13th-fastest women's split on the early 1.81→5.55 Miles segment.
• Estefania Unzu Ripoll, 40 (Aranguren) takes 3rd in 3:26:39, posting the 29th-fastest women's split on the final 25 Miles→Finish stretch to claw back from 52nd among women to 38th.
• A tight podium, then a gap: 4th-place Jose Lopez finished in 3:29:00 and 5th-place Marisol Rojas Vidales in 3:30:24, with the top five separated by just under 12 minutes — and the field of 155 stretching well beyond.

Rachel Devenow ran one of the most dramatic positional arcs in the F40-44 field. Starting conservatively — 47th among women through the first checkpoint — she was methodical through the middle miles, working her way up to 16th among women by the Garmin Hill Challenge. Her 14th-fastest women's split on the 10.87 Miles→Garmin Hill Challenge segment was the engine of that charge, and she held her gains through the finish line in 3:18:35. In the damp, 56°F San Francisco morning, that kind of sustained build takes real discipline.

Kate Kelp-Stebbins told a different story. The 44-year-old from Eugene came out flying — 10th among women through the early miles and posting the 13th-fastest women's split in the field on the opening 1.81→5.55 Miles stretch. But the back half of the course had other ideas, and she slid to 21st among women by the finish. What saved her podium spot was the cushion she'd built: 3:19:08, just 33 seconds behind Devenow. That gap is real, but so is the catch-up — Devenow ran the later miles faster and made it count.

Estefania Unzu Ripoll's race was a tale of two halves in reverse. She faded steadily through the middle, dropping as far back as 52nd among women, before finding another gear late. Her 29th-fastest women's split over the final 25 Miles→Finish stretch hauled her back to 38th among women and secured 3rd in 3:26:39 — a gutsy finish from the 40-year-old representing Aranguren. Behind the podium, Jose Lopez (3:29:00) and Marisol Rojas Vidales (3:30:24) rounded out the top five, with Beatriz Remes Cobo (6th, 3:43:31) leading a large international contingent — Dublin, São Paulo, Mexico City, and Puebla all represented in the top 15.