Way Too Cool 50K: Paula Hamilton dominates the F60-69 field

• Paula Hamilton won the F60-69 age group in 6:14:06 — a full 51 minutes and 18 seconds ahead of runner-up Julie Arnold.
• Hamilton averaged 12:02/mi across 31 miles of Sierra Nevada foothills, the sharpest pace in the age group by a wide margin.
• Hamilton posted the 28th-fastest women's split on the Goat Hill→HWY 49 segment — a standout stretch that underscored her strength mid-race.
• Places 2 through 4 were separated by just 13 minutes and 47 seconds, making the battle for the podium the tightest subplot of the day.

Paula Hamilton made this look authoritative from the gun. She entered the women's field around 31st place early on and, while she drifted back to 41st by the second checkpoint, she steadily reeled the field back in — finishing 36th among women — a quiet, methodical climb back through the pack that reflected a well-managed effort over the full 31 miles. At 12:02/mi on a course with genuine climbing, that's not a comfortable jog; it's a controlled, confident race.

Behind Hamilton, Julie Arnold (66, Granite Bay) and Chiemi Yamamoto (64, Roseville) waged a compelling chase. Arnold crossed in 7:05:24, Yamamoto just 3 minutes and 35 seconds later at 7:08:59. Arnold was the stronger finisher on the Goat Hill→HWY 49 stretch — her 51st-fastest women's split there helped her hold off Yamamoto, who had her best relative moment on the ALT→Goat Hill segment. Carol Sorenson (67, Yuba City) rounded out the podium in 4th at 7:19:11, adding another 10 minutes to the gap but never letting the top three get entirely out of sight.

The back half of the field told a story of grit over speed. Martina Parra, at 60 the youngest of the top five, found her best gear on the HWY 49→Finish segment — her 59th-fastest women's split on that closing stretch helped her secure 5th in 7:31:45. Karla Moore, Judi Shaffer, and Bronwyn Hogan clustered between 7:58 and 8:04, with Shaffer and Hogan separated by just 7 seconds at the line. Tsehay Villeza closed out the F60-69 age group in 8:13:10 — a finisher's medal well earned on a day when ten women in their sixties went the full distance at Way Too Cool.