F75-79 Marathon: Gilbert Leads the Way Through San Francisco

• Sharlet Gilbert, 75, took the F75-79 title in 4:42:40 — a 10:47/mi pace through 59°F winds along the San Francisco streets.
• Anne Marie Gonsalves, 79, completed her marathon in 6:11:59 (14:11/mi), finishing 2nd in F75-79 and crossing the line nearly 90 minutes behind Gilbert.
• Gilbert's strongest relative moment came late: her 14M–16M split ranked 742nd among all women in the field.
• Two finishers, two Bay Area athletes — Richmond and San Leandro both represented on the start line.

Just two women toed the line in F75-79, but what they accomplished on a breezy, humid San Francisco morning deserves its own spotlight. Sharlet Gilbert, 75, ran the whole 26.2 miles at a 10:47/mi clip to finish in 4:42:40, claiming 1st in F75-79 outright. Her gender standing climbed meaningfully in the back half of the race — moving from around 1,055th among women at the early checkpoints up to 939th by the finish — a sign she was reeling in runners as the miles mounted. Her 14M–16M split, ranking 742nd among all women, was a relative bright spot in a race where she ran with notable consistency throughout.

Anne Marie Gonsalves, at 79, took on the full marathon at a 14:11/mi pace and saw it through to a 6:11:59 finish — 2nd in F75-79. Her gender standing drifted steadily rearward across the checkpoints, from 1,797th early on to 1,973rd at the line, which reflects the natural reality of a longer day on the course against a field that skewed younger. Still, finishing a marathon at 79 in San Francisco — with 15 mph winds and 77% humidity in the mix — is its own kind of result. Her 10M–10.5M split ranked 1,601st among women, a half-mile stretch where she held her rhythm in the middle of the race.

Between them, Gilbert and Gonsalves covered the full San Francisco Marathon course and gave F75-79 a completed scoreboard. Gilbert takes the win by 1:29:19.