American River 25-Miler F50-59: Petrillo Leads the Way at 59

• Michelle Petrillo won the F50-59 age group in 5:31:35 (13:16/mi), nearly 9 minutes clear of runner-up Beckie Newell.
• Beckie Newell (5:40:27, 13:37/mi) closed with the 6th-fastest women's split on the Last Gasp→Finish segment, finishing 2nd in the age group.
• Dawn Savage and Stephanie Perlberg ran the two strongest Granite Bay→Rattlesnake Bar splits among the back half of the field — 17th and 19th fastest among all women, respectively — before finishing 3rd (6:46:10) and 4th (6:56:46).
• Six F50-59 runners finished across a span of just over 2 hours and 18 minutes, from Petrillo's 5:31:35 to Veronica Martinez's 7:50:17.

At 59 years old, Michelle Petrillo was the oldest finisher in the F50-59 age group — and she ran it the fastest. Her 5:31:35 at 13:16/mi held up through a warm 73°F day in Auburn, and she moved steadily through the women's field, settling into 6th among all women by Granite Bay and holding that position all the way to the finish line. Her best segment came on the Granite Bay→Rattlesnake Bar stretch, where she posted the 6th-fastest women's split of the day on that leg.

Beckie Newell sat ahead of Petrillo among the women's field at the start — 4th among women through the early going — but faded to 7th by Rattlesnake Bar and held there through the finish in 5:40:27. Her 13:37/mi average was notably slower than Petrillo's, and the 8:52 gap between them reflects a real difference in pacing across the back half. Newell did find her legs on the final stretch, recording the 6th-fastest women's Last Gasp→Finish split to close it out in style.

Dawn Savage (6:46:10) and Stephanie Perlberg (6:56:46) ran a parallel race within the race — both from Roseville, both moving up the women's field from the mid-20s into the top 20 by the finish, and both posting sharp Granite Bay→Rattlesnake Bar splits. Savage edged Perlberg by 10:36 for 3rd. Gloria Koch rounded out the top five in 7:25:08 (17:48/mi), posting the 22nd-fastest women's split on Rattlesnake Bar→Last Gasp, while Veronica Martinez, 50, completed the six-woman group in 7:50:17 to close out the age group.