Shamrock Marathon F25-29: Paxton Leads Wire to Wire in the Heat

• Liv Paxton (26, Rock Hill, SC) won the F25-29 age group in 2:55:56 (6:43/mi), posting the fastest women's split on the 5K–10K segment and holding the lead among women from start to finish — until the final stretch where she settled to 2nd among women overall.
• Clare Filiere (29, Columbia, MD) ran 2:58:09 to claim 2nd in the age group, also owning the 3rd-fastest women's split on the 5K–10K — a gap of just 2:13 separating the top two.
• Simone Veale (25, Chapel Hill, NC) was the day's biggest mover in the age group, climbing from 10th among women at the halfway checkpoint to 5th by the finish, fueled by the 6th-fastest women's split on the 25K–30K segment.
• Madeline Ustanik and Alexis Helmer (5th and 6th) finished in 3:10:54 and 3:10:58 — just four seconds apart after 26.2 miles.

At 71°F with 73% humidity and a 17 mph wind off Virginia Beach, the conditions were anything but forgiving, and the F25-29 age group sent 180 finishers through it anyway. Liv Paxton made it look controlled: she sat atop the women's field from the opening miles, ran the fastest women's split between 5K and 10K, and never left the lead. The only ground she conceded came late — slipping to 2nd among women in the final segments — but in the age group, she was untouchable, winning by 2:13 over Clare Filiere.

Filiere was no passenger either. The 29-year-old from Columbia held 3rd among women through the early miles before moving to 2nd in the middle of the race, then settling back to 4th among women at the line. Her 2:58:09 at 6:48/mi was a composed effort on a tough day. Behind her, Hannah Twine (4th, 3:09:06) ran near the front of the women's field all day before fading slightly in the closing miles, while Simone Veale took the opposite trajectory — quiet through 20K, then surging with the 6th-fastest women's split on the 25K–30K stretch to close out 3rd in the age group at 3:03:57.

The race within the race came at 5th and 6th, where Madeline Ustanik (Davidson, NC) and Alexis Helmer (Huntersville, NC) ran nearly identical marathons. Ustanik crossed in 3:10:54, Helmer in 3:10:58 — four seconds after 26.2 miles of racing in wind and heat. That's the kind of finish that makes a tough March day on the Virginia Beach coast worth every step.