Two Cities Marathon 10K — F65-69: Wheaton Runs Away With It

• Jeanne Wheaton wins in 1:04:33 — a 10:23/mi effort that put more than 10 minutes of daylight between her and the rest of the F65-69 field.
• Denise Walsh (2nd, 1:14:56) and Ofie Cruz (3rd, 1:17:01) were separated by just over two minutes, with Jeannette Erickson (4th, 1:18:54) another 1:53 back — three athletes packed within four minutes for the final podium spots.
• Roycelyn Griffin (5th, 1:21:15) and Sally Godfrey (6th, 1:21:43) were the closest battle of the day, just 28 seconds apart at the line.
• All 11 women finished, from Wheaton's 1:04:33 to Claudia Carter's 1:50:14 — a field spanning nearly every corner of the Central Valley.

Jeanne Wheaton of Clovis made the F65-69 race her own from the outset. Her 10:23/mi pace was a full 1:41/mi faster than second-place Denise Walsh, and the gap at the finish — 10 minutes and 23 seconds — was commanding. At 66, Wheaton was neither the youngest nor the oldest in the field, just the sharpest.

Behind her, Walsh (65, Fresno) and Cruz (69, Merced) ran a quiet, tightly contested battle for the podium's silver and bronze. Cruz, the oldest of the three, crossed in 1:17:01 — just 2:05 behind Walsh. Erickson (69, Fresno) pushed hard in fourth at 1:18:54, keeping the pressure on Cruz throughout.

The most nail-biting finish of the day came fifth and sixth, where Griffin (68, Clovis) and Godfrey (65, Fresno) were virtually inseparable — 1:21:15 to 1:21:43, a margin of 28 seconds across 6.2 miles. Sue Spencer rounded out the top seven in 1:27:26.

The back half of the field brought its own determination. JoAnn Snell (8th, 1:43:32), Jeanne Cortelyou (9th, 1:49:15), Sally Peralta (10th, 1:49:54), and Claudia Carter (11th, 1:50:14) each crossed the line, with Carter, Peralta, and Cortelyou finishing within 59 seconds of one another. Eleven starters, eleven finishers — a clean sweep for F65-69 in Fresno.