Shamrock 8K F25-29: Benedettini blazes to the win in Virginia Beach

• Anna Benedettini, 27:34 (5:33/mi) — won the F25-29 race outright and posted the fastest women's split on the 4M→Finish stretch.
• Lora Ontl closed hard — moved from 12th among women at the 4-mile mark to 7th among women by the finish, claiming 2nd in F25-29 in 32:55 (6:37/mi).
• Kristine Shaughnessy and Samantha DeCapua ran the 13th- and 14th-fastest women's splits on the second half, respectively, to lock up 3rd (35:11) and 4th (35:45).
• 430 finishers completed the F25-29 race, making it one of the day's deepest fields on the Virginia Beach course.

Anna Benedettini put on a masterclass in front-running. The Kailua, HI 26-year-old sat 5th among women through the early miles and held that position at the 4-mile checkpoint — then unleashed the fastest women's split of the entire race over the final stretch to take the F25-29 win in 27:34. At 5:33 per mile, her pace was in a different register from everyone else in the field, and it showed: the gap back to 2nd place was over five minutes.

Lora Ontl, running on home turf in Norfolk, was the story of the closing miles. She entered the 4-mile mark sitting 12th among women and finished 7th among women overall — her 7th-fastest women's split on that final segment was the engine behind a strong 32:55 clocking and a clear 2nd-place finish in F25-29. Behind her, Kristine Shaughnessy (35:11, 7:05/mi) and Samantha DeCapua (35:45, 7:12/mi) both made their moves in the second half as well, with DeCapua notably climbing from 24th among women at the 4-mile mark all the way to 16th at the finish — a sustained push that earned her 4th in F25-29 by just 34 seconds over Shaughnessy.

Hollis Williamson rounded out the top five in 36:48 (7:24/mi), having also moved steadily through the women's field in the back half of the race. Jamie Curry (6th, 37:12) and Jacque Law (7th, 37:39) kept the pressure on through the finish. Further back, the 8:00/mi barrier proved a genuine dividing line — Sara Chontosh (11th, 39:51), Jenna Roane (12th, 39:58), and Elise Cruz (13th, 40:03) all finished within 12 seconds of each other, while Riley Lambert, Cassandra Young, and Sarah Becker all clocked 41:24–41:27 to cluster tightly at 18th through 20th.