Way Too Cool 10M: Brigitte French dominates F40-49 with a commanding wire-to-wire run

• Brigitte French won the F40-49 age group in 1:52:43 (11:16/mi), finishing nearly 6:31 ahead of runner-up Jennifer Tommasini.
• French held 9th among women from the first checkpoint to the finish — a model of steady, locked-in racing.
• The top three were all age 49, with Sarah Harbour (2:00:06) edging Cathleen Mills (2:06:30) for 3rd by over six minutes.
• Fifteen women finished F40-49 on a warm 69°F afternoon in Cool, CA — a range of efforts spanning from 1:52:43 to 2:54:59.

Brigitte French of Vacaville made this one look controlled from the gun. She crossed in 1:52:43 — an 11:16/mi average across ten miles of Sierra Nevada foothills — and never wavered from 9th among all women at any checkpoint. Her closing stretch was her sharpest weapon: the 7th-fastest women's split on the HWY 49 to Finish segment sealed the win and underscored that she was still accelerating when others were grinding.

Behind her, Jennifer Tommasini and Sarah Harbour — both 49, both from the Sacramento region — ran a quiet battle for 2nd and 3rd. Tommasini came in at 1:59:14, posting the 14th-fastest women's split on the Fire Station to HWY 49 stretch. Harbour was just 52 seconds back at 2:00:06, matching Tommasini's split rank on that same segment (13th-fastest). Both held their gender positions rock-steady throughout, never gaining or losing a place from checkpoint to finish. Cathleen Mills, also 49, rounded out the podium at 4th in 2:06:30.

The middle of the field compressed into a tight 10-minute window: Amanda Burr (5th, 2:15:12) through Alicia Bauer (9th, 2:21:55) covered just over six minutes of racing. Burr's 23rd-fastest women's split on the closing HWY 49 to Finish segment helped her edge Jessica Madieros by just over a minute. At the back, Ji Lee of Suisun City brought it home in 2:54:59 to complete all 15 finishers — every one of them across the line on a warm, breezy afternoon in the California foothills.