Women's Half Marathon: Murphy Dominates from Gun to Tape

• Grayson Murphy won in 1:18:32 (5:59/mi), holding 1st among women from the first checkpoint through the finish — and posting the fastest women's split on the opening 1M→10K stretch.
• Jimena Rivera (2nd, 1:23:37) and Mary Craig (3rd, 1:23:57) were separated by just 20 seconds at the line, with Rivera's quicker early pace and Craig's strong middle segment (2nd-fastest women's split on 10K→8.9M) making for a compelling battle for the podium's lower steps.
• Candace Archer (4th, 1:25:57) was the race's most notable mover, climbing from 6th at the first checkpoint to 4th — and closing with the 3rd-fastest women's split on the 12.1M→Finish segment.
• Alisha Brown (19th, 1:40:30) returned to the Two Cities Half after finishing 9th here in 2025 (1:33:58), crossing roughly six and a half minutes back of that mark this time around.

Grayson Murphy turned this into a wire-to-wire statement. Running 5:59/mi through Fresno's cool, breezy November morning, she led from the opening mile through the finish tape, never once relinquishing her spot at the front of the women's field. Her 1:18:32 was in a class of its own — more than five minutes clear of 2nd place in a 759-woman field.

Behind Murphy, the race for the podium had genuine drama. Rivera, 20 years old out of Madera, ran the 2nd-fastest women's split in the early 1M→10K segment and held 2nd wire-to-wire, finishing in 1:23:37 at 6:23/mi. Craig, 34, from Kailua, countered with the 2nd-fastest women's split on the 10K→8.9M stretch and closed in 1:23:57 — a 20-second gap that reflects two athletes running different races within the same race, neither one fading, just Rivera holding enough of an early cushion to stay ahead.

The most dynamic move in the women's field came from Candace Archer. Starting 6th through the first checkpoint, she steadily worked her way forward and locked in 4th with the 3rd-fastest closing split (12.1M→Finish) among women, finishing in 1:25:57. Sarah Tomamichel (5th, 1:30:52), who had been 4th early on, was overtaken as Archer surged — a reminder that in a half marathon, the closing miles have the final say. The rest of the top 10 was tightly bunched from Sam Perez (6th, 1:33:13) through Annie Kelly (10th, 1:34:26), just over a minute separating them across four finishers.