Shamrock'n 10K F75-79: Swann takes the age group in commanding fashion

• Beverly Swann, 76, won the F75-79 age group in 1:11:36 — an 11:31/mi pace across 10K.
• Dilyn Radakovitz, 79, finished 2nd in 1:22:56 — a gap of 11 minutes and 20 seconds between the two finishers.
• Swann posted the 388th-fastest women's second-5K split in the field, gaining 32 places among women over the back half.
• Radakovitz, three years Swann's senior, also moved forward in the women's field over the final 5K — climbing 19 places to finish 684th among women.

There were just two athletes in the F75-79 age group at the Shamrock'n 10K, but both of them showed up and got it done on a mild March morning in West Sacramento. Beverly Swann, 76, from Columbia, MS, took the win in 1:11:36, running a steady 11:31 per mile to claim the age group outright. That's a real time for a real 10K, and Swann earned every second of it.

What makes Swann's performance particularly notable is how she ran the back half. She gained 32 places among women between the 5K mark and the finish, posting the 388th-fastest women's split on that closing stretch. In a field large enough that 388th still represents genuine competitive running, that's a strong second half — she didn't fade, she moved.

Dilyn Radakovitz, 79 and running from Loomis, CA, crossed in 1:22:56 — a 13:21/mi pace — to take 2nd in the age group. The 11-minute-20-second gap between the two was wide, but Radakovitz also finished with forward momentum, picking up 19 places among women over the final 5K. At 79 years old, finishing a 10K and gaining ground in the closing stretch is its own kind of statement.

Two starters, two finishers, zero DNFs. In the F75-79 age group, that's the whole story — and it's a good one.