San Francisco Marathon 2025: Noriko Bazeley Owns F65-69

• Noriko Bazeley won the F65-69 race in 4:08:52 (9:30/mi), finishing more than 6 minutes clear of runner-up Constance Coman.
• Constance Coman, 69, staged the most dramatic comeback of the field — entering the women's race ranked outside the top 1,100 in the early miles before surging to 2nd place in F65-69 with a 4:15:03.
• Caroline Cook and Helen Park ran a tight battle for 3rd and 4th, separated by just 2:26 at the finish (4:39:25 vs. 4:41:51).
• All 15 starters in F65-69 crossed the finish line, spanning a range from Bazeley's 4:08:52 to Leticia Banda's 6:23:41.

Noriko Bazeley of San Francisco put on a masterclass in measured racing on a cool, humid morning. She opened with one of the sharper early efforts in the field — posting the 330th-fastest women's split on the opening 1.81-to-5.55-mile stretch — and never truly relinquished control. Her 9:30/mi average held steady enough to carry her from 306th among women at the first checkpoint all the way to 369th by the finish, a drift that reflects the sheer size of the women's field rather than any fade. The margin over Coman tells the real story: 6 minutes and 11 seconds in a field where every minute is hard-earned.

Constance Coman, at 69 the oldest finisher on the podium, ran the race in reverse — a slow burn that became a late-race surge. She was sitting outside the top 1,100 among women through the early miles, but from Mile 18 to Mile 25 she posted the 347th-fastest women's split in the entire field, climbing steadily to 456th among women by the finish and locking up 2nd in F65-69 at 4:15:03 (9:44/mi). That closing stretch was the single most decisive move of the race in this group.

The battle for 3rd was its own subplot. Caroline Cook of Grand Rapids opened with the 572nd-fastest women's split on that early stretch and held a comfortable gap over Helen Park of Diamond Bar, who ran the 696th-fastest split on the same segment. Park chipped away across the middle miles — she actually ran stronger through several segments — but couldn't fully close the gap, finishing 4th in 4:41:51 to Cook's 3rd-place 4:39:25. Susan Kim rounded out the top five in 4:45:49, followed by Cindy Egger (4:49:48) in 6th.

Behind them, Siew Chuah (5:04:54) and Elizabeth Maslow (5:05:38) ran nearly side-by-side through the fog, finishing 7th and 8th just 44 seconds apart. Kathryn Leech, Linda Kay O'Gara, Cathy Minshall, Julie Hankins, Marta Medina, Sharon Bach, and Leticia Banda completed the F65-69 field — 15 finishers in all, every one of them covering 26.2 miles through San Francisco's hills on a damp July morning.