F65-69: Carol Sexton Runs Away With It in San Francisco

• Carol Sexton, 69, wins in 4:07:33 (9:27/mi) — nearly 56 minutes clear of second place.
• Cindy L Egger takes 2nd in 5:03:13, with Siew Chuah 3rd in 5:10:40 — just 7:27 separating the two.
• Elizabeth Maslow (5th, 5:19:50) and Cathy Minshall (6th, 5:21:11) finish within 81 seconds of each other after 26.2 miles.
• 13 women completed the F65-69 race across a spread of more than two and a half hours.

Carol Sexton, 69, from Woodinville, WA, didn't just win F65-69 — she dominated it. Her 4:07:33 finish at a 9:27/mi clip left the rest of the field nearly an hour behind, and her mid-race movement tells the real story of how she got there. Sexton surged dramatically through the middle miles, climbing from 348th among women at the first checkpoint all the way to 263rd by mile 6 — including the 217th-fastest women's split on that 4M→6M stretch. She faded back through the women's field in the second half as the course and the 15 mph San Francisco wind took their toll, but by then the F65-69 race was long over.

Behind her, Cindy L Egger of Galt, CA ran a solid 5:03:13 for second, though her race had a harder second act — she dropped from 609th among women at the early checkpoint all the way to 1,300th by mile 22, a clear sign that the back half of the course ground her down. Siew Chuah of Walnut Creek, CA was more consistent, steadily climbing through the women's field from 1,587th to 1,414th and posting the 1,189th-fastest women's split on the 20M→22M segment to close in 5:10:40 for third.

The battle for fifth and sixth was the tightest duel of the day in F65-69. Elizabeth Maslow (Shadow Hills, CA) finished 5th in 5:19:50, with Cathy Minshall (Reno, NV) just 81 seconds back in 5:21:11 — a razor-thin gap after more than five hours of racing. Maslow had steadily climbed the women's field all day, moving from 1,913th to 1,520th, and her 1,109th-fastest women's split on the 22M→24M segment helped her hold off Minshall to the line.

At the back, Sharon Bach of Lafayette, CA closed it out in 6:35:07 (15:04/mi) to complete all 13 finishers — a spread of two hours and 27 minutes from first to last across a field that tackled one of road racing's most demanding urban courses.