F70+ 10K: Bei Dominates a Gutsy Five-Woman Field

• Karen Bei (1st, 1:17:15) won the F70+ race by nearly 8 minutes, averaging 12:26/mi across the 10K.
• Laura Thompson (2nd, 1:25:01) was the runner-up at 13:41/mi, finishing nearly 13 minutes clear of 3rd place.
• Melodie Gross (3rd, 1:38:01) and Ellen Lewin (4th, 1:39:40) were separated by just 1 minute and 39 seconds — the tightest battle of the day.
• Sandra Robinson (5th, 1:56:05) rounded out the five at 18:41/mi, completing the F70+ field.

Karen Bei made it look controlled from the start. The 70-year-old Santa Rosa local posted a 12:26/mi average — nearly a minute and a quarter per mile faster than runner-up Laura Thompson — and never appeared to be in danger of being challenged. On a cool, lightly rainy morning in her own backyard, Bei claimed the F70+ title with a margin that spoke to genuine strength across the full 6.2 miles.

Thompson, 73, out of Healdsburg, was a clear and comfortable second. Her 1:25:01 at 13:41/mi put her well ahead of the mid-pack battle, and the gap she opened over 3rd place — nearly 13 minutes — made her runner-up finish decisive in its own right.

The most compelling subplot of the morning unfolded between Melodie Gross and Ellen Lewin. Gross, 71, traveling from Anchorage, Alaska, finished 3rd in 1:38:01 at 15:46/mi. Lewin, 73, from Lafayette, crossed just 99 seconds later in 1:39:40 at 16:02/mi. Over more than 6 miles in the rain, those two ran remarkably close — Gross held on, but Lewin made it a real contest to the end.

Sandra Robinson, 74, of San Leandro, finished 5th in 1:56:05 at 18:41/mi — the oldest competitor in the F70+ field, completing the 10K on a damp August morning in Santa Rosa. Five women showed up and finished. That's the whole story worth telling.