Two Cities Marathon 10K — F45-49: Three Seconds, Three Women, Three Clovis Neighbors

• Tara Cucullu wins the F45-49 age group in 57:28 (9:15/mi), edging Maila Baker (2nd, 57:32) and Kellie Feramisco (3rd, 57:35) — all three separated by just seven seconds.
• All three podium finishers are age 45 and from Clovis, CA — a remarkable concentration of talent from one city and one age.
• Places 5–7 were equally tight: Dorina Gilmore-Young (5th, 1:02:47), Jen Dionne (6th, 1:02:48), and Krista Dose (7th, 1:02:52) finished within five seconds of each other.
• 47 women finished in the F45-49 age group, with times ranging from 57:28 to well past the 1:15 mark.

The headline story of the F45-49 age group at the Two Cities 10K is almost too tight to believe. Tara Cucullu crossed the line in 57:28 to claim the win, but Maila Baker was right on her heels at 57:32 — four seconds back — and Kellie Feramisco completed the trio at 57:35, just three more seconds behind Baker. All three women are 45 years old and call Clovis home, which makes this podium feel less like a coincidence and more like a rivalry that runs through the neighborhood.

Leticia Palomares of Del Rey took 4th in 59:33, running a 9:35/mi pace to finish nearly two minutes clear of the Clovis cluster but nearly two minutes ahead of the next group. That gap opened up a real no-man's land before the race picked back up with another battle just past the hour mark.

Places 5 through 7 delivered a second act worthy of the podium drama. Dorina Gilmore-Young (5th, 1:02:47), Jen Dionne (6th, 1:02:48), and Krista Dose (7th, 1:02:52) ran a combined five-second spread across three finishers — Dionne arriving just one second behind Gilmore-Young, and Dose five seconds back. Maria Puopolo followed in 8th at 1:03:48, with Amy Shackelford (9th, 1:03:57) and Carmen Gutierrez (10th, 1:04:04) rounding out a top ten packed into just under seven minutes of racing.

With 47 finishers across the age group, the F45-49 field was one of the deeper ones on the course — and the competition at the front made it one of the most memorable.