Shamrock Half Marathon Women: Benedettini Dominates on the Virginia Beach Shore

• Anna Benedettini won the women's race in 1:14:11 (5:40/mi), finishing more than 6 minutes clear of the field in a women's field of 3,596.
• Ave Grosenheider (1:20:22) and Jonel Rodina (1:21:22) locked up 2nd and 3rd, separated by exactly 60 seconds at the line.
• Olivia Beaudet (1:25:32) was the race's biggest mover in the top five, climbing from 9th at the 5K to 4th by the finish on the strength of the 4th-fastest 20K→Finish split among women.
• Scarlett Bauer, just 15 years old out of Norfolk, ran 1:29:25 to finish 11th among 3,596 women.

Anna Benedettini made the women's race her own from the gun. The 27-year-old Virginia Beach local held the top spot at every checkpoint — 5K, 10K, 15K, 20K, and the finish — and posted the fastest women's split from 5K to 10K to underline her control. Her 1:14:11 at 5:40/mi wasn't just a win; it was a statement, arriving more than six minutes before the next woman crossed the line on a humid, breezy morning on the Virginia Beach coast.

Behind her, Richmond's Ave Grosenheider ran a composed race, moving from 3rd early to claim 2nd in 1:20:22 (6:08/mi). Jonel Rodina, 40, of Virginia Beach, was equally steady — sitting 4th through the 10K before moving to 3rd by 15K and holding it to the tape in 1:21:22 (6:12/mi), posting the 2nd-fastest women's split from 20K to the finish. Those two ran the podium's silver and bronze with real purpose.

The most compelling chase story belonged to Olivia Beaudet and Clarice Chasting. Beaudet (23, Norwood, MA) was 9th at 5K and climbed steadily to 4th by the finish in 1:25:32, her 4th-fastest 20K→Finish split among women doing the heavy lifting late. Chasting (32, Virginia Beach) took a different route — surging to 4th by 15K on the 5th-fastest second-half split — before Beaudet edged her at the line, 1:25:32 to 1:25:41. Alexis Sharp (6th, 1:26:01) and Kayla Fisher (7th, 1:27:27) rounded out a tightly packed chase pack.

At 15 years old, Scarlett Bauer of Norfolk deserves her own mention: 11th in the women's field of 3,596 with a 1:29:25 (6:49/mi) is a performance that speaks for itself.