Two Cities Half Marathon F70-74: McCoy edges Bachman in a photo-finish duel at the top

• Judy McCoy (71, Laguna Niguel) took the F70-74 title in 3:19:16, edging Adrienne Bachman by just 3 seconds.
• Adrienne Bachman (72, Fresno) finished 2nd in 3:19:19 — the closest battle of the age group.
• Kim Ross and Theiry Ramirez were separated by only 18 seconds in 3rd (3:28:07) and 4th (3:28:25).
• Gail Vaughan rounded out the five-woman F70-74 field in 3:45:41.

Five women lined up in the F70-74 age group on a warm Fresno morning — 74°F and clear skies — and delivered one of the tightest finishes of the day. Judy McCoy of Laguna Niguel crossed in 3:19:16 to claim the win, but Adrienne Bachman of Fresno was right on her heels, finishing 2nd in 3:19:19. Three seconds separated them at the line — both averaging 15:12 per mile — making it the closest margin in the group. McCoy had been tracking Bachman through the women's field all race long, with both moving from around 706th–707th among the women at the midpoint up into the 675th–676th range by the finish, a nearly identical trajectory that made the outcome impossible to predict until the very end.

Behind them, a second close battle played out between Kim Ross and Theiry Ramirez. Ross (70, Fresno) finished 3rd in 3:28:07, running at 15:53 per mile, while Ramirez (70, Madera) came in 4th in 3:28:25 at 15:54 per mile — just 18 seconds back. The two had very different second halves, though. Ross posted the 682nd-fastest women's split on the opening segment to 10K, holding steady. Ramirez, who had surged out to 631st among the women by the 10K mark, faded over the closing stretch, recording the 694th-fastest women's split from 10K to the finish — giving Ross the edge in 3rd.

Gail Vaughan (71, Clovis) completed the F70-74 field in 5th, finishing in 3:45:41 at 17:13 per mile. She ran a remarkably consistent race, holding near 731st among the women through the 10K before moving up to 725th by the finish, closing the day on a positive note. Five women, two photo-finish battles, and a full spread of just 26 minutes — the F70-74 group made every second count in Fresno.