Two Cities Marathon F30-34: Czuprynski Dominates, Grace Defends Her Turf

• Sarah Czuprynski won the F30-34 group in 2:40:15 (6:07/mi), leading the women's race wire-to-wire and posting the fastest women's split on the opening 1M→10K stretch.
• Maria Grace finished 2nd in 2:54:22 — nearly 14 minutes back — after winning this same race in 2023 in 2:50:22, making her a returning champion chasing her own standard.
• Kelsey Alves climbed from 8th among women at the start to 7th by the finish, clocking the 7th-fastest women's split on the 10K→13.1M segment en route to 3rd in 3:12:51.
• The back half of the field delivered late fireworks: Paula O'Donnell (5th, 3:36:59) posted the 6th-fastest women's closing split from 25.2M to the finish, moving from 27th among women at the gun to 20th at the tape.

Sarah Czuprynski was simply in a different race. Running 6:07/mi from North Hollywood, she held 1st among women from the very first checkpoint through the finish line — never threatened, never wavering. Her fastest women's split on the opening 1M→10K segment set the tone immediately, and the 13-minute, 57-second gap she built over the rest of the F30-34 field tells the rest of the story on Two Cities' flat, Boston-qualifying course.

Maria Grace knows this race. The Visalia runner won here in 2023 in 2:50:22, and she came back in 2024 to finish 2nd in 2:54:12 — a defending champion who held her position at the front of the women's field throughout, running 6:39/mi and posting the 3rd-fastest women's split on that early 1M→10K segment. She couldn't match Czuprynski's pace, but returning to the podium a year after winning is a genuine achievement worth noting.

Kelsey Alves rounded out the podium in 3:12:51, her 7:21/mi pace reflecting a measured build through the first half — she sat 8th among women at 10K and steadily worked her way forward, cementing 3rd in the F30-34 group by the finish. Behind her, Salome Ok (4th, 3:29:06) was quietly one of the day's movers, climbing from 21st among women at the start to 15th at the line, with the 14th-fastest women's split from 23M to 25.2M powering that late charge.