Two Cities Half Marathon: Cathleen Willy Dominates the F40-44 Field

• Cathleen Willy, 41, wins F40-44 in 1:24:09 (6:25/mi), finishing 2nd among all women — a 10-minute, 34-second margin over runner-up Lili Peng.
• Peng (1:34:43, 7:14/mi) holds 2nd in the age group; Anonymous Participant (1:37:59, 7:28/mi) and Valerie Kao (1:38:35, 7:31/mi) round out a tight battle for 3rd and 4th, separated by just 36 seconds.
• Kao climbed steadily, moving from 21st to 16th among women across the race; Anonymous Participant also advanced, picking up the 15th-fastest women's split on the 10K-to-finish stretch to claim 3rd.
• Amy Haste (1:47:45, 8:13/mi) posted the 32nd-fastest women's split on the opening 1M–10K segment but faded from 22nd to 35th among women by the finish, landing 5th in the age group.

Cathleen Willy made this one look controlled from the gun. Running at 6:25 per mile, she sat 2nd among all women at every checkpoint and never wavered, posting the 5th-fastest women's split on the opening 1M-to-10K segment to establish herself early. Her 1:24:09 wasn't just a win — it was a statement, nearly 11 minutes clear of anyone else in the F40-44 field of 85.

Behind her, the race for the podium was genuinely compelling. Lili Peng of Dublin ran a solid 1:34:43 to take 2nd, but the real drama played out between Anonymous Participant and Valerie Kao in the back half. Anonymous Participant, running a 7:28/mi pace, ran the 15th-fastest women's split from 10K to the finish line to lock up 3rd in 1:37:59. Kao, meanwhile, climbed from 21st to 16th among women and finished just 36 seconds back at 1:38:35 — a strong close, but not quite enough to catch 3rd.

Fresno's warm November morning — 74°F at the start — may have played a role in how the back of the field unfolded. Maribel Jimenez (1:49:27) and Lisa Maher (1:49:35) finished 6th and 7th just eight seconds apart, while Lindsey Lake's 2:09:37 rounded out the top 20. Across 85 finishers, the F40-44 group delivered one of the day's most compelling age-group stories — led, start to finish, by Willy's commanding performance.