SF Half Marathon F35-39: Usubyan Defends and Dominates

• Nina Usubyan, 1:20:23 (6:08/mi): Won F35-39 and finished 4th among all women, clocking the 3rd-fastest women's closing split (12M→Finish) — one year after her 3rd-place women's finish here in 1:21:09.
• Nicole Sabes, 1:26:26: Climbed from 21st among women at the opening checkpoint all the way to 10th by the finish, also posting the 4th-fastest women's closing split.
• Podium gap: Rosa Angel Escobar Estrada rounded out the podium in 1:28:33, more than six minutes behind Usubyan — the top three were well-separated.
• Tight mid-pack: Namuun Bayaraa and Stephanie Tondow both clocked 1:41:47 at 7:46/mi, finishing 8th and 9th respectively — separated only by the timing chip.

Nina Usubyan came back to San Francisco knowing exactly what this course could give her. A year ago she crossed the line 3rd among all women in 1:21:09; this time she went one better in every sense — winning F35-39 outright, climbing to 4th among the entire women's field, and shaving 46 seconds off her 2025 time to finish in 1:20:23 at a 6:08/mi clip. She held 7th among women through the first half, then moved decisively — cracking the top five by mile 4 and eventually surging to 4th. The 3rd-fastest women's closing split confirmed the move wasn't a drift; it was a calculated finish.

Nicole Sabes, 35, was the comeback story of the race. Starting 21st among women, she worked her way through the field checkpoint by checkpoint, eventually settling 10th among women at the tape in 1:26:26 (6:36/mi). That closing split — 4th-fastest among women — tells you where she found her legs. Rosa Angel Escobar Estrada, also 35 and making the trip from México D.F., ran a controlled 1:28:33 (6:45/mi) and showed her best speed early, posting the 11th-fastest women's split on the 2M–4M segment before holding on for 3rd.

Further back, Sabina Pareja-Lecaros ran one of the field's most dramatic arcs — starting 111th among women and finishing 56th by the end, with the 34th-fastest women's closing split powering her climb to 5th in F35-39 in 1:40:21. Lydia Simmons (1:41:02) and Hope McCaffrey (1:41:20) filled out 6th and 7th, with a tight cluster of four runners — McCaffrey through Stephanie Tondow — all finishing within 27 seconds across places 7 through 9. In a field of 222 finishers, the racing was fierce from front to back.