Two Cities Marathon 5K — F65-69: Schoenwald Dominates with a Sub-30 Effort

• Emily Schoenwald won the F65-69 group in 29:51 (9:36/mi), finishing 4:00 ahead of runner-up Charmaine Loy.
• The top four were separated by just 7:56 total, while a gap of more than 6 minutes opened between 4th and 5th place.
• 16 women finished in the F65-69 group, ranging from 29:51 to — setting aside one outlier — just over 1:15.

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Emily Schoenwald made the F65-69 race look straightforward. The 66-year-old from Clovis crossed in 29:51 at a 9:36-per-mile clip — the only finisher in the group to break 30 minutes and, frankly, in a different gear than everyone else on the course. Her four-minute cushion over fellow 66-year-old Charmaine Loy of Fresno (33:51, 10:54/mi) was never seriously threatened.

Behind Loy, Carol Sheela of Kingsburg earned 3rd in 36:41, and Shirley Fraser of Morro Bay rounded out the podium in 4th at 37:47 — those two separated by just 1:06. The top four formed a tight cluster before a meaningful gap opened: Gina Wibeto of Hanford came home 5th in 44:17, more than six minutes back from Fraser, signaling a clear break in the field.

The middle of the pack — Charlene Castro (47:29), Diana Soares (48:26), and Patricia Duran (51:02) — ran close together through the 47-to-51-minute range, with just 3:33 splitting those three finishers. From there, the field spread out steadily, with Jeanne Cortelyou, Diane Barela, and a cluster of Clovis runners filling out positions 9 through 15 between 57:38 and 1:15:40.

One note on the final result: Debra Schroeder of Fresno is listed 16th with a time of 3:35:04 — more than two hours beyond the next finisher — suggesting she encountered something well outside a typical race day. All 16 women finished, and that counts.