Two Cities Half Marathon: Marlene Youpel Leads the F75-79 Field Home

• Marlene Youpel won the F75-79 age group in 3:21:27, averaging 15:22/mi.
• Anonymous Participant finished 2nd in 3:28:35 — a 7:08 gap between the two 75-year-olds.
• Youpel moved from 696th to 657th among women over the course of the race, gaining 39 places in the women's field on her way to the finish.

Just two athletes lined up in the F75-79 age group at the Two Cities Half Marathon, but both of them went the distance on the streets of Fresno. Marlene Youpel, 75, of Fresno, claimed the top spot with a finish time of 3:21:27, running a 15:22/mi pace to cross the line first among her peers.

Her fellow 75-year-old, racing anonymously, was right there in the conversation through much of the race. Tracking the women's field placements tells the story: the anonymous runner sat 659th among women at one checkpoint, moved up to 675th — wait, that's a fade, not a surge — and ultimately settled at 669th. Meanwhile, Youpel was steadily climbing, moving from 696th to 657th among women, a sign of a runner who got stronger as the miles wore on. On the 10K-to-finish stretch, the anonymous participant posted the 662nd-fastest women's split on that segment, but it wasn't enough to close the gap. Youpel's 15:22/mi held firm against the 15:55/mi of her competitor, and the 7:08 margin at the tape reflected a race that Youpel controlled in the back half.

Finishing a half marathon at 75 is a feat worth naming plainly. Both women covered 13.1 miles through Fresno on a Sunday in October, and the F75-79 age group had a winner and a runner-up — nothing more to ask for.