Two Cities 10K — F35-39: Anderson Surges to a Dominant Win

• Nicole Anderson (Clovis, 37) won the F35-39 age group in 50:19 (8:06/mi) — nearly three minutes clear of the field.
• Nadia Dwidar (Fresno, 37) ran the 15th-fastest women's final segment to claim 2nd in 53:08 (8:33/mi), finishing 2:49 back.
• Samantha Kennedy and Joanne Ramirez battled to a near-photo-finish for 3rd and 4th — 58:58 vs. 59:08, just 10 seconds apart.
• A tight three-way cluster rounded out the top five: Kennedy, Ramirez, and Kindra Sanders (59:19) were separated by just 21 seconds.

Nicole Anderson didn't just win the F35-39 age group at the Two Cities 10K — she ran away from it. Her 50:19 at 8:06/mi was a performance in a different gear from the rest of the field, and her movement through the women's race told the full story: she entered the final mile in 19th among women and crossed the line 6th, posting the 9th-fastest women's split on that closing stretch. That kind of late surge doesn't happen by accident.

Behind her, Nadia Dwidar — also 37, from just down the road in Fresno — was equally impressive in her own right. Dwidar climbed from 29th to 12th among women over that same final segment, logging the 15th-fastest women's closing split on her way to a 53:08 finish. Both women ran the back half of this race faster than they ran the front, and both delivered the top two results in the age group by a comfortable margin.

The real drama in the F35-39 group played out in the battle for 3rd. Samantha Kennedy (Sanger, 36) held off Joanne Ramirez (Fresno, 35) by just 10 seconds — 58:58 to 59:08 — though it was Kennedy who faded on the final segment (dropping from 36th to 39th among women) while Ramirez was the one closing ground (moving up from 53rd to 41st). Kindra Sanders (Fresno, 39) finished just 11 seconds further back in 5th at 59:19, making it three runners within 21 seconds for the final podium spot. In a field of 53, that's a finish worth savoring.