Two Cities Marathon F65-69: Richards Leads Wire to Wire

• Nancy Richards won the F65-69 age group in 5:29:18 (12:34/mi), holding her gender position through the middle miles before closing strong with the 80th-fastest women's split on the 13.1M–18M segment.
• Emily Schoenwald ran a steady, progressive race — climbing from 137th to 121st among women by the halfway point — to finish 2nd in 5:37:19 (12:52/mi), 8:01 behind Richards.
• Deb Burgess closed the strongest of the three in the final miles, posting the 119th-fastest women's split on the 25.2M–Finish segment and moving up steadily in the women's field to take 3rd in 6:06:29 (13:59/mi).

Nancy Richards had this race in hand from the gun. Running out of Madras, OR, the 66-year-old never relinquished her lead in the F65-69 age group across the entire 26.2 miles of this flat, point-to-point course along the Fresno/Clovis border. Her 12:34/mi average held firm through the middle stretch, and her 80th-fastest women's split on the 13.1M–18M segment showed she still had legs when others were beginning to feel the distance. She crossed in 5:29:18 — well within Boston Qualifier range for her age group on this USATF-certified course.

Eight minutes back, Emily Schoenwald — a local Clovis runner — delivered the most consistent performance of the three. She moved steadily through the women's field from 137th place early on all the way up to 121st by the midpoint, then held that position with remarkable discipline through the final miles, finishing in 5:37:19. Her 12:52/mi pace never wavered dramatically, and her 115th-fastest women's split on the 19.8M–23M segment kept her solidly in second.

Deb Burgess, also of Clovis, had the most quietly impressive finish. After tracking near the back of the women's field through the early and middle miles, the 66-year-old reeled in runners one by one over the final stretch — climbing from 150th to 141st among women between mile 25 and the finish, posting the 119th-fastest women's split on that closing 25.2M–Finish segment. She crossed in 6:06:29, a strong finish to a hard day on the roads.