Shamrock'n 5K F65-69: Wendy Sones Leon Edges Out a Sharp Battle at the Top

• Wendy Sones Leon won the F65-69 group in 27:32 (8:52/mi), holding off Bonita Malone by just 19 seconds — the tightest margin anywhere on the podium.
• The gap from 2nd to 3rd was a striking 3 minutes 40 seconds, with Lori Lutes claiming bronze in 31:31.
• Leilani Vlach, at 69 the oldest finisher in the listed top nine, placed 7th in 35:20 — competitive well into the back half of the top ten.
• 51 women finished in the F65-69 group, with the top 20 ranging from 27:32 down to 50:00 — a spread that reflects the full range of effort on a cool, clear March morning.

Wendy Sones Leon, 68, from Sacramento, set the standard in F65-69 with a 27:32 finish at an 8:52-per-mile clip. That's a genuinely quick pace for any age, and it was enough to hold off Bonita Malone of Elk Grove by 19 seconds. Malone, 65, crossed in 27:51 — close enough that this one was decided by execution, not circumstance. These two ran well clear of the rest of the field, with the gap back to third place larger than the entire margin separating them.

Lori Lutes took third in 31:31 (10:09/mi), and from there the placings spread out more gradually. Nancy Lee (32:45) and Kathryn Donovan (33:34) rounded out the top five, separated by under a minute, making for a quiet but real battle for fourth. Cecelia Sanders and Leilani Vlach were next, both in the 35-minute range, with Susan Jenkins (36:00) and Carolyn Meredith Simpson (36:53) completing a nine-woman cluster that finished within about nine and a half minutes of each other.

The middle of the field shows a clear step down in pace — Maggie Hodge opened the 40-minute tier in 40:45, followed closely by Andrea Schurer (40:49) and Ofelia Underhill (41:06), three runners within 21 seconds of one another. Esterlyn Murray closed out the listed finishers at an even 50:00. With 31 more finishers beyond the top 20, this was a well-populated F65-69 group — and Wendy Sones Leon led every one of them home.