SF Marathon Half: Parekh surges to F35-39 title in the city by the bay

• Vaishali Parekh wins F35-39 in 1:41:28 (7:44/mi), posting the 7th-fastest women's split on the 10M→10.5M segment en route to the title.
• Diana Darinka Zárate Díaz runs the 20th-fastest women's second-half split to close from 2nd to 2nd, finishing in 1:43:01 — 1:33 back.
• Anna Engstrom takes 3rd in 1:43:47, logging the 26th-fastest women's 12M→Finish split to hold off a late charge from Shimian Wang (4th, 1:44:25).
• 388 women finished in F35-39, with the top 20 spanning just 14:33 from first to last listed.

Vaishali Parekh of San Francisco came to her home race and delivered. Running 7:44/mi through 59°F and 14 mph winds off the bay, she navigated a field of 388 and climbed from 26th among women at the early checkpoints all the way to 14th by the finish — a steady, assertive move through the field. Her sharpest moment came on the 10M→10.5M stretch, where she posted the 7th-fastest women's split of the day on that segment, and she never relinquished the F35-39 lead once she had it.

Behind her, the race for the podium was a story of second-half racing. Diana Darinka Zárate Díaz had slipped as far back as 39th among women at one checkpoint but came roaring back with the 20th-fastest women's second-half split in the field, crossing in 1:43:01 at 7:52/mi to claim a clear runner-up finish. Anna Engstrom of Menlo Park made a similar late push — she was 52nd among women early on — and her 26th-fastest women's split on the 12M→Finish stretch sealed 3rd place in 1:43:47.

Shimian Wang (4th, 1:44:25) and Jessica Sevick (5th, 1:44:45) rounded out a tight top five separated by just 2:57 across the five positions. Sevick, racing from Mill Bay, BC, also posted the 30th-fastest women's 12M→Finish split — another finisher who found another gear late. Julia Zhang (6th, 1:45:18), Ting Pan (7th, 1:46:54), and Kayce Seifert (8th, 1:47:17) kept the pack honest, while Paulina Acuna Venegas (9th, 1:47:28) and Erica Conley (10th, 1:48:01) closed out a deep and competitive top ten.