Women's Marathon: Turk-Bly dominates in the cold, Moore and Wrigley stage a thriller for third

• Danielle Turk-Bly, 2:57:32 (6:46/mi): Wire-to-wire winner, never relinquished first place, and posted the fastest women's split on the early 2.5M–4.8M stretch.
• 3 seconds apart: Jodi Moore (3:34:47) and Quinn Wrigley (3:34:50) swapped third and fourth repeatedly before Moore edged ahead at the line — separated by just three seconds after 26.2 miles.
• Laura Randall's charge: Starting 14th among women, Randall climbed all the way to 5th by finish (3:42:07), posting the 3rd-fastest women's split on the final 23.8M–Finish stretch.
• Age range on the podium: Winner Turk-Bly is 40, Moore is 51 — a combined age of 91 between gold and bronze.

In 39°F morning air with a stiff 86% humidity, Danielle Turk-Bly of Burlington, ND made the women's race look uncomplicated from the outside and ferocious from the inside. She led from the first checkpoint to the last, averaging 6:46 per mile across all 26.2, and her fastest women's split on the 2.5M–4.8M segment signaled early that she was running her own race at a different level than the field. Her winning margin of 34 minutes and 16 seconds over second place wasn't a race — it was a statement.

Behind her, Jessica Garcia (3:31:48, 8:05/mi) held second from start to finish and posted the 2nd-fastest women's split on that same early segment, running a composed and steady race from Rancho Santa Margarita all the way to Bismarck. Third place, however, was anything but settled. Jodi Moore, a 51-year-old from Calgary, and Quinn Wrigley, a 23-year-old local from Bismarck, traded third and fourth back and forth across multiple checkpoints — Wrigley holding the edge through miles 6–23, Moore reasserting herself in the closing miles with the 2nd-fastest women's split on the 21.9M–23.8M segment. At the line: Moore in 3:34:47, Wrigley in 3:34:50. Three seconds. Both averaged 8:12 per mile. Moore's late surge made the difference.

Fifth place belongs to Laura Randall of Seattle, whose race was the most dramatic climb of the day. She crossed 14th at the early checkpoints and worked her way steadily through the field, finishing in 3:42:07 and recording the 3rd-fastest women's split on the closing 23.8M–Finish stretch. Behind the podium, a deep field of 64 women finished on a cold North Dakota morning — including Nancy Stedman, 62, of Tallahassee, crossing 13th in 3:57:15, and Terry Merritt, 63, of Longmont, finishing 19th in 4:08:53.