Two Cities 5K — F70-74: DuBois Dominates at 74

• Lois DuBois won the F70-74 group in 41:13 (13:16/mi) — nearly 2:35 clear of second place.
• Rosalinda Hernandez and Teresa Fuentes were separated by just 55 seconds at 2nd and 3rd, finishing 43:48 and 44:43 respectively.
• Sally Mistretta rounded out the top four at 45:38, with the top five all finishing within 5:41 of each other.
• A notable split in the field: Debra Schmitt in 6th (56:36) opened a gap of nearly 10 minutes back to Stella Chavira (7th, 1:01:12) and the rest of the group.

At 74 years old, Lois DuBois of Shaver Lake put on the most commanding performance in the F70-74 group, crossing in 41:13 at a 13:16/mi clip — a pace none of her 11 competitors could match. Her margin over runner-up Rosalinda Hernandez of Fresno was 2 minutes and 35 seconds, a gap that tells the story of a wire-to-wire leader who was simply in a different gear.

Behind DuBois, the race for the podium was genuinely competitive. Hernandez (43:48) and Teresa Fuentes of Madera (44:43) were locked in a close contest, with Fuentes unable to close that 55-second gap. Sally Mistretta, also of Fresno, finished 4th in 45:38, just 55 seconds behind Fuentes herself. Mona Borjas of Clovis completed the tight top five in 46:54, meaning the entire group from 2nd through 5th was decided within a span of 3:06.

The back half of the field told a different story. Debra Schmitt of Friant crossed 6th in 56:36, and then came a cluster of three finishers — Stella Chavira (7th, 1:01:12), Marie Failla (8th, 1:01:13), and Lilia Gardea (9th, 1:04:01) — who ran their own quiet race. Chavira and Failla were separated by a single second despite averaging the same 19:42/mi pace, with Chavira holding 7th by the narrowest of margins. Luz Newell (10th, 1:13:33), Dixie Iler (11th, 1:17:35), and Carol Podsakoff (12th, 1:18:00) rounded out all 12 finishers, with Podsakoff completing the course at 25:06/mi to close out the group.