Two Cities Marathon F45-49: Ramona Sanchez Dominates in a 2:53 Stunner

• Ramona Sanchez, 1st in F45-49 — 2:53:27 (6:37/mi), the 2nd-fastest women's split from 10K to the finish line among all women in the race.
• Nearly 39 minutes separated Sanchez from runner-up Lani Chevoya (3:32:10) — the widest gap at the top of this 12-woman age group.
• Heather McKeighan's back-half surge was the most dramatic move in the group: she entered the 10K checkpoint as 147th among women and finished 54th — one of the sharpest climbs in the women's field on that closing stretch.
• Jodi Butler and Maggy Quon finished 6th (4:45:40) and 7th (4:46:00) — just 20 seconds apart after 26.2 miles.

Ramona Sanchez, 46, of Sparks, NV, put on a clinic on Two Cities' famously flat, point-to-point course. Her 6:37/mi average produced a 2:53:27 that was good enough for 2nd among all women in the race — and her split from 10K to the finish was the 2nd-fastest of any woman on the course. This wasn't a race within the F45-49 group so much as a performance in a class of its own.

Behind her, Lani Chevoya (3:32:10, 8:06/mi) ran a steady race to claim 2nd in the age group, holding 17th among women by the finish. Jonah Belle Burns rounded out the podium in 4:07:33 (9:27/mi), moving from 50th to 35th among women over the final stretch — a sign she found another gear after the 10K mark.

The most compelling story in the back half of the field belonged to Heather McKeighan. The Fresno local came through the 10K checkpoint buried in 147th place among women, then ran the 29th-fastest women's split from 10K to the finish to climb all the way to 54th — landing 4th in the age group at 4:24:42. The anonymous 5th-place finisher (4:28:06) made a similar move, jumping from 92nd to 57th among women on that same closing stretch.

Further back, the battle for 6th and 7th played out over every one of those 26.2 miles: Jodi Butler (4:45:40) and Maggy Quon (4:46:00) were separated by just 20 seconds at the line, with Laura Grant (4:47:48) only 108 seconds further back in 8th. Mailor Lee (5:01:57), Thuba Leba (5:21:36), Anita Sanchez (5:55:26), and Ole Scovill (6:39:18) rounded out the 12-finisher field, each completing the full 26.2 miles.