Two Cities Marathon F20-24: Minkstein Dominates with a Boston-Qualifier Effort

• Jules Minkstein, 3:21:14 — wins the F20-24 group by a commanding 35:23 margin, averaging 7:41/mi across all 26.2 miles.
• Strongest late kick in the group: Minkstein posted the 11th-fastest women's split on the 10K-to-Finish stretch, climbing from 15th to 11th among all women — the only runner in F20-24 to crack the top 15 women's spots at any point.
• Karlee Hoover's charge: the 24-year-old from McGregor, TX moved from 59th to 42nd among women in the back half — the biggest positional climb in the group — to claim 4th in 4:14:15.
• Tight battle for 6th–7th: Lena Borrelli (4:40:50) and Jacque Rupp (4:41:10) finished just 20 seconds apart after 26.2 miles.

Jules Minkstein, just 20 years old out of El Granada, turned in the kind of performance that defines this course's reputation. Her 3:21:14 at 7:41/mi is a Boston Marathon qualifier — and it wasn't just fast, it was controlled. She climbed from 15th to 11th among all women in the race's second half, posting the 11th-fastest women's split on the 10K-to-Finish segment. The gap to second place was never really in question: 35 minutes separated her from Shannon McKinzie's 3:56:37.

McKinzie, 21, from Tulare, ran a solid second-place effort at 9:01/mi, also finishing strong — she moved from 39th to 29th among women over the final stretch with the 28th-fastest women's split on that same segment. Behind her, Eliza Steenrod (4:11:49) and Karlee Hoover (4:14:15) rounded out the podium and just off it, respectively, though their races told opposite stories: Steenrod faded from 28th to 39th among women in the back half, while Hoover surged from 59th all the way to 42nd to close within 2:26 of third.

Joelie Hull, another 20-year-old, finished 5th in 4:32:17 — a local Clovis runner on a course that runs right along her home city's border. The middle of the field featured a genuine battle, with Borrelli (4:40:50) and Rupp (4:41:10) separated by just 20 seconds after covering the full 26.2 miles. The final five finishers — Jimena Ruvalcaba (5:37:24) and Consuelo Luna (5:41:23) among them — closed out a 17-woman F20-24 field that ranged nearly two and a half hours from front to back.