Two Cities Half Marathon: Scheuer rules the F65-69 field in Fresno

• Deborah Scheuer won the F65-69 group in 2:07:47 (9:45/mi), more than 6:48 ahead of runner-up Barbara Simons.
• Scheuer's second half was her strongest — she climbed from 385th to 177th among women over the course of the race, posting the 145th-fastest women's split on the 10K-to-finish stretch.
• Isabel Schlotterback held 3rd in 2:33:58, her best segment coming early — she recorded the 378th-fastest women's split on the opening 1M-to-10K leg.
• The field spanned more than 1:37:54 from Scheuer's winning time to Georgia Davis's 3:45:41 finish, reflecting a wide range of paces across all 11 finishers.

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Deborah Scheuer, representing Gainesville, FL, delivered the dominant performance of the F65-69 group on a warm Fresno morning — 74°F and sunny, the kind of conditions that test endurance at every mile. Running at a 9:45/mi clip, she was never seriously threatened, and the margin she built over the back half of the race told the real story: she entered the 10K-to-finish segment ranked 231st among women and exited it at 177th, meaning she was actively hunting down runners ahead of her while her competitors held steady or faded.

Barbara Simons, a local from Clovis, ran a composed 2:14:35 to claim 2nd — also climbing through the women's field in the second half, from 269th to 243rd — but couldn't close the gap on Scheuer. The 6:48 margin between them was comfortable and clear. Isabel Schlotterback, also from Fresno, rounded out the podium in 2:33:58, showing her best work early before settling into an 11:45/mi average for the full distance.

Behind the top three, Rachel Ross (2:39:45) and Joyce Dendo (2:42:40) ran within three minutes of each other through 4th and 5th, both making up ground in the women's field over the final stretch. The back half of the F65-69 field — from Mayra Mendez's 2:58:05 through Georgia Davis's 3:45:41 — spread across nearly 48 minutes, a reminder of just how broad the challenge of 13.1 miles can be. All 11 finishers crossed the line. That counts for everything.