American River 50 Mile: Nancy Ishizawa Owns the F60-69 Field

• Nancy Ishizawa won the F60-69 age group in 11:54:15 (14:17/mi), finishing 16th among all women.
• Sarah Estrella completed the 50-miler in 13:00:40 (15:37/mi), climbing from 42nd to 30th among women across the race.
• Ishizawa posted the 13th-fastest women's split on the second half, a strong close that reflected her steady forward momentum throughout.
• The gap between the two finishers was 1:06:25 — over an hour across a 50-mile course.

Just two women toed the line in the F60-69 age group at American River 2025, but both delivered efforts worth watching. Nancy Ishizawa, 60, from Cerritos, set the tone early and never let up. Her gender place tells the story cleanly: she moved from 23rd among women at the first checkpoint all the way to 16th by the finish, picking off competitors one by one across all 50 miles. That kind of sustained forward movement over such a distance isn't luck — it's execution.

The second half was where Ishizawa really made her mark. Her 13th-fastest women's split on that stretch meant she was running stronger than the vast majority of the women's field when many others were fading. At a 14:17/mi average over 50 miles in the California foothills, she earned every place she gained.

Sarah Estrella, also 60 and racing out of Davis, had her own story to tell. She started conservatively — 42nd among women — and ground her way forward to 30th by the finish, a gain of 12 places. Her strongest segment came on the Beals Point to Rattlesnake Bar stretch, where she posted the 24th-fastest women's split in the field. Finishing a 50-miler in 13:00:40 is no small thing, regardless of the gap to the leader.

An hour and six minutes separated them at the finish line, but both women completed one of Northern California's most storied ultramarathons on a clear, cool April day. Ishizawa takes the age group win; Estrella takes the finish.