SF Half Marathon F35-39: Parekh Surges Late to Take the Crown

• Vaishali Parekh won F35-39 in 1:41:28 (7:44/mi), posting the 9th-fastest women's split on the 10.26M→10.5M segment to seal her charge.
• Diana Darinka Zárate Díaz (2nd, 1:43:01) and Anna Engstrom (3rd, 1:43:47) both closed hard — Zárate Díaz ran the 20th-fastest women's second-half split, Engstrom the 26th-fastest 12M→Finish split — but couldn't bridge the gap to Parekh.
• The top five were separated by just 3:17, with Jessica Sevick (5th, 1:44:45) and Shimian Wang (4th, 1:44:25) finishing within 20 seconds of each other.
• A field of 388 finishers made F35-39 one of the deepest cohorts of the day.

Vaishali Parekh's win was built on a well-timed surge. The 36-year-old San Franciscan entered the race in 25th place among women and spent the early miles hovering in the mid-to-high 20s — as far back as 26th. Then came the move. By the time the field hit the final miles, she had climbed to 14th among all women, and her 9th-fastest women's split through the 10.26M–10.5M stretch tells the story of where the race was decided. She crossed in 1:41:28, a 7:44/mi average that left the rest of F35-39 with serious ground to make up.

Diana Darinka Zárate Díaz gave chase and came closest, finishing 2nd in 1:43:01 at 7:52/mi. She, too, was a back-half runner — sitting as far back as 39th among women early before climbing to 23rd — and her 20th-fastest women's second-half split shows she was flying at the end. Just 46 seconds further back, Anna Engstrom (3rd, 1:43:47) completed her own late charge from 52nd among women all the way to 25th, logging the 26th-fastest 12M→Finish split in the women's field.

Shimian Wang (4th, 1:44:25) and Jessica Sevick (5th, 1:44:45) rounded out the podium conversation with finishes just 20 seconds apart, both also posting strong closing splits on the 12M→Finish stretch. Julia Zhang (6th, 1:45:18) through Erica Conley (10th, 1:48:01) kept the pack honest, with the entire top ten finishing inside 6:33 of each other — tight racing across the board on a breezy, humid San Francisco morning.