F45-49 at Two Cities: Ramona Sanchez Runs Away With It

• Ramona Sanchez won the F45-49 age group in 2:50:36 (6:30/mi), posting the fastest women's split on the final 25.2M→Finish stretch to seal a dominant performance.
• Carrie Dixon took 2nd in 3:20:14, backed by the 6th-fastest women's split on the opening 1M→10K segment — her early charge set the tone for a strong, consistent run.
• Sandra Mendoza climbed from 63rd among women at the first checkpoint all the way to 18th by the finish, landing 3rd in the age group in 3:36:37 with the 8th-fastest women's closing split.
• Fifth and sixth place were decided by just 36 seconds — Jessica Connally (4:03:00) edging Odette Ortiz (4:03:36) — in a battle that wasn't resolved until the final miles.

Ramona Sanchez, 48, from Sparks, NV, didn't just win F45-49 — she made a statement. She entered the women's race 9th by gender at the first checkpoint, then surged to 2nd among all women by the 10K mark and never looked back. Her 6:30/mi average was the engine, but the finishing kick was the exclamation point: the fastest women's closing split of the day, from 25.2 miles to the line, confirmed she had plenty left when others were grinding it out in 74°F heat.

Carrie Dixon, 46, of Fresno ran a textbook front-loaded race, using the 6th-fastest women's split on the opening segment to bank time and position. She held 2nd in F45-49 comfortably, finishing in 3:20:14 — a full 29 minutes and 38 seconds behind Sanchez, but well clear of the rest of the age group. Sandra Mendoza, also of Fresno, told the opposite story: she was buried 63rd among women at mile one but steadily reeled in competitor after competitor, climbing 45 spots to finish 18th among women and 3rd in the age group. Her closing split ranked 8th among all women — she was clearly finding another gear just as others were fading.

Behind the podium, the race got interesting again around the 4-hour mark. Jessica Connally and Odette Ortiz were locked in a tight battle, separated by just 36 seconds at the line — 4:03:00 to 4:03:36 — for 5th and 6th. Angela Kok rounded out the top seven in 4:06:08, while all 15 F45-49 starters crossed the finish line, from Sanchez's 2:50 to Stobhan Robinson's 6:45:16. In a warm November in Fresno, every one of them earned it.