Shamrock'n 5K F50-54: Kasie Gee Edges Out a Thriller at the Top

• One second separates 1st and 2nd: Kasie Gee (25:30) and Emily Baginski (25:31) ran identical 8:13/mi averages — Gee took the win by the slimmest of margins.
• A tight top five: The first five finishers were covered by just 44 seconds, with Norma Andrade (26:05) and Lorell Cooke (26:14) rounding out a closely packed chase pack.
• 15th vs. 16th — another near-miss: Anita Finner (31:33.44) and Nicole Strickland (31:33.58) finished just 0.14 seconds apart deep in the field — the race's second-closest call.
• 121 women finished in the F50-54 age group, with the top 20 ranging from 25:30 to 33:51.

The story of the F50-54 age group at the 2026 Shamrock'n 5K is essentially two races in one: a breathtaking duel at the front, and a remarkably competitive chase pack that kept the pressure on for the full 3.1 miles. Kasie Gee of Sacramento crossed first in 25:30, holding off Carmichael's Emily Baginski by a single second. Both women averaged 8:13 per mile in cool, clear conditions — 54°F with a light breeze off the Sacramento area — and neither blinked. The timing clock is what separated them, not anything visible to the naked eye.

Helena Hart-Rathbun of El Dorado Hills ran a composed 25:56 to claim third, a full 25 seconds back of Baginski but well clear of the next wave. Norma Andrade (26:05) and Lorell Cooke (26:14) completed a top five that was decided within 44 seconds — a remarkable show of depth for an age group that fielded 121 finishers. From there, Millicent Barajas (27:14) and Maria Andrade (27:35) led a second cluster before the field spread more noticeably into the 28- and 29-minute range.

Further back, the race offered one more moment of drama: Anita Finner and Nicole Strickland both clocked 31:33 by the clock, but the timing chip told the real story — Finner edged Strickland by just 0.14 seconds to claim 15th. On a morning when the front of the F50-54 field was defined by razor-thin margins, it was fitting that the battle for 15th played out the same way.