Women's 8K: Benedettini Storms the Back Half to Take Virginia Beach

• Anna Benedettini (Kailua, HI) wins in 27:34 (5:33/mi), posting the fastest women's split on the 4M→Finish stretch to move from 5th to 1st.
• Amanda Tyndall, 37, finishes 2nd in 28:15 with the 2nd-fastest closing split — 41 seconds back.
• Isabella Strumke, just 11 years old from Toano, VA, earns 3rd in 29:58 with the 3rd-fastest closing split among all women.
• The top five all share the same story: each held her early position through 4M, then separated from the field with the five fastest closing splits in order — a clean sweep of the finishing surge.

The headline in the women's 8K at the 2025 Shamrock Marathon weekend belonged to Anna Benedettini. Running at a 5:33/mi clip, the 26-year-old from Kailua, HI crossed in 27:34 — but the real story is how she got there. Sitting 5th through the 4-mile mark, Benedettini unleashed the fastest closing split among all 4,101 women in the field to take the win outright. That's not a gradual drift to the front — that's a deliberate, well-timed move.

Amanda Tyndall gave chase. The 37-year-old from Erie, CO ran the 2nd-fastest closing split in the women's field and finished in 28:15, 41 seconds behind Benedettini. She held her position from the early miles too, so the gap at the line reflects where the two separated on that final stretch. Tyndall's finish is a strong one — she simply ran into a buzzsaw at the front.

The most striking subplot of the day, though, is 11-year-old Isabella Strumke of Toano, VA. Third place in 29:58 at a 6:02/mi pace — and she earned it with the 3rd-fastest closing split among all women. Ella Zeigler (4th, 30:42) and Emily Honeycutt (5th, 31:06) rounded out the top five, each also posting top-five closing splits. The entire podium — and the next two finishers — made their move in the same stretch of road. It was a back-half race all the way down the leaderboard.

Further back, Renee Merchant (8th, 33:56) and Megan Tschirhart-Bell (9th, 33:57) finished just one second apart, while Sadie Ross — another 11-year-old — crossed 19th in 36:26 at 7:20/mi, a reminder that this women's field ran deep in every sense.