San Francisco Half Marathon: Maya Rossin-Slater Runs Away with the F40-44 Title

• Maya Rossin-Slater won in 1:31:00 (6:57/mi), nearly nine minutes clear of the field — the dominant performance of the day in F40-44.
• Angie Shoffner charged from 125th among women at the start to 52nd by the finish, backing it up with the 37th-fastest women's split on the 12M→Finish stretch to claim 2nd in 1:39:57.
• Places 3–5 were separated by just 41 seconds — Jessica Chen (3rd, 1:40:48), Pelageia Budankova (4th, 1:41:05), and Florencia Vial (5th, 1:41:29) — making the battle for the final podium spot one of the race's tightest sub-plots.
• A field of 116 finishers braved 17 mph winds and 78% humidity on the San Francisco streets.

Maya Rossin-Slater of Menlo Park made this one look almost routine — almost. Running 6:57/mi through a stiff headwind and thick humidity, she crossed in 1:31:00 and was never seriously challenged. Her gender place ticked steadily upward from 35th early to 24th by the finish, a controlled, progressive effort that never required a dramatic surge. The 17th-fastest women's split on the 12M→Finish stretch confirmed she was still pressing hard when others were managing their way home.

Behind her, Angie Shoffner of Tyler, TX delivered the comeback story of the F40-44 race. She was buried in 125th among women early and methodically reeled in runner after runner — 92nd, 80th, 76th — before landing 2nd in 1:39:57 (7:37/mi). That final 12M→Finish leg, where she posted the 37th-fastest women's split, was the exclamation point on a well-executed negative-split race.

The real drama unfolded for positions 3 through 5. Jessica Chen of Oakland held 50th among women early but gradually slipped back through the middle miles, eventually settling into 62nd and 3rd place in 1:40:48 (7:41/mi). Pelageia Budankova of Winter Park, FL ran a more consistent arc, posting the 57th-fastest women's split on the first half, and finished 4th in 1:41:05. Florencia Vial of Houston was 54th among women at the start but faded through the middle stretch, finishing 5th in 1:41:29 — just 41 seconds separating all three across the line.

Kaori Itabashi (6th, 1:43:07) and Erdenesuvd Jargalsaikhan (7th, 1:44:13) rounded out the top seven before the field spread into the 1:46–1:56 range, where Sarah Berkheiser (8th, 1:46:35) through Tiffany Ho (16th, 1:54:56) and beyond filled out a deep and competitive 116-woman field.