F50-54: Seventhia Johnston Dominates in Fresno

• Johnston won the F50-54 group by 10 minutes and 3 seconds, finishing in 1:40:48 at a 7:41/mi average pace.
• Her second-half surge was decisive: she moved from 73rd to 21st among women by the 10K mark, then climbed to 20th by the finish — posting the 23rd-fastest women's split from 10K to the line.
• Stephanie Gendron held 2nd in 1:50:51, more than 10 minutes back, with the 39th-fastest women's split on the opening 1M→10K stretch.
• A tight battle for 4th and 5th: Michele Rossi (2:04:21) and Candie Malone (2:04:36) were separated by just 15 seconds across 13.1 miles.

Seventhia Johnston, 54, from Chowchilla, made the F50-54 race her personal showcase on a warm November morning in Fresno — 74°F and clear, not the friendliest conditions for marathon pace. She crossed in 1:40:48, running 7:41 per mile and leaving the rest of the field well behind. The gap to 2nd place was over ten minutes, which in a half marathon is not a close race — it's a statement.

What made Johnston's performance particularly striking was how the race unfolded. She started cautiously, sitting 73rd among women through the first mile, but by the 10K mark she had surged to 21st in the women's field and essentially held that position all the way home. The back half of the race was where she did her real work, posting the 23rd-fastest women's split from 10K to the finish among all women on the course.

Stephanie Gendron (1:50:51, 8:27/mi) claimed 2nd in the F50-54 group with a strong early move — she was the 39th-fastest among women on the 1M-to-10K segment — though she faded from 35th to 50th among women in the second half. Sandrine Logan rounded out the podium in 2:01:00, while the race for 4th was the group's tightest subplot: Rossi and Malone traded positions throughout and finished just 15 seconds apart after more than two hours of running.

Thirty-four women completed the F50-54 race in Fresno. Johnston's 1:40:48 was the class of the field from wire to wire — or more precisely, from the 10K mark onward.