Shamrock'n Half Marathon F60-64: Anderson-Abbs Runs Away With It

• Beverley Anderson-Abbs, 61, won the F60-64 group in 1:34:12 — a 7:11/mi average that left the rest of the 65-finisher field nearly 12 minutes behind.
• Maggie Cerezo (1:46:07) and Cheryl Taylor (1:46:19) battled for 2nd and 3rd, separated by just 12 seconds at the line — and Taylor had actually been running ahead of Cerezo through the middle miles.
• Cerezo's Mile 5.13→Half split was the 69th-fastest among all women on that segment; Taylor's Mile 2.04→Mile 5.13 split ranked 70th among women — nearly identical mid-race firepower, different places to deploy it.
• Leilani Dunmoyer climbed steadily all day, moving from well outside the top 200 women at the start to 165th by the finish, posting the 132nd-fastest women's split on the Mile 11→Finish stretch.

Beverley Anderson-Abbs made the F60-64 race a solo time trial from early on. Running at 7:11 per mile on a clear, mild Sacramento morning, the 61-year-old from Sacramento progressively worked her way through the women's field — moving from 37th among women at the first checkpoint all the way to 27th by Mile 11 before settling at 29th at the finish. That late slight drift back in the women's standings didn't cost her anything in the age group; her 1:34:12 was in a class of its own, nearly 12 minutes clear of second place.

Behind her, the real drama belonged to Cerezo and Taylor. Cheryl Taylor, also 61, held the upper hand through the early and middle portions of the race — she was running ahead of Cerezo among the women's field through Mile 11. But Cerezo found something in the back half, posting the 69th-fastest women's split from Mile 5.13 to the halfway mat, and came through the finish in 1:46:07 to Taylor's 1:46:19. Twelve seconds after 13.1 miles — that's a photo finish by half-marathon standards, and Taylor had to settle for third despite leading for much of the way.

Further back, Leilani Dunmoyer ran a patient, progressive race. Starting deep in the women's field around 210th, she steadily reeled in runners over 13 miles, finishing 4th in the F60-64 group in 1:52:37 at 8:35 per mile. Susie Mcmichael, 64, rounded out the top six in 1:55:49 — one of two 64-year-olds in the top ten, alongside Ramona Blount, who became the first finisher to crack two hours on the wrong side of it, crossing in 1:59:58.