F60-69: Becca Russell Dominates While Three-Way Drama Unfolds Behind Her

• Becca Russell, 61, wins the F60-69 age group in 12:10:07 (14:36/mi), finishing 18th among all women — more than 1:26 ahead of second place.
• Closest battle of the day: Martina Parra (3rd, 13:37:51) and Sarah Estrella (4th, 13:38:12) finished just 21 seconds apart, with Marianne Paulson (5th, 13:42:24) only four minutes further back.
• Russell's strongest stretch: she posted the 14th-fastest women's split on the Rattlesnake Bar→Last Gasp segment, a key move that helped her climb from 26th to 18th among women across the race.
• Late surges defined the podium: Parra, Estrella, and Paulson all posted their best women's split ranks on the final Last Gasp→Finish leg — 25th, 22nd, and 20th fastest among women, respectively.

Becca Russell, 61, of Rocklin, made the F60-69 race her own from early on. While she entered the women's field at 26th place, she steadily climbed through the checkpoints, eventually settling 18th among women at the finish line — a journey that took her through 73°F heat on a clear April day in Auburn. Her 12:10:07 finish, at a 14:36/mi pace, left a gap of over an hour and twenty-six minutes to second place, making this one of the most decisive age-group wins of the day.

Behind her, Carol Sorenson, 67, of Yuba City, held second place with a steady 13:36:26 (16:20/mi), her most notable split coming on the Beals Point→Granite Bay segment where she posted the 28th-fastest women's time. She was consistent if not flashy, moving between 32nd and 34th among women for much of the race before closing 33rd.

The real drama was the three-way chase for third. Martina Parra, 60, of Fairfield, had been climbing all day — moving from 44th among women at the first checkpoint all the way to 34th at the finish — and crossed in 13:37:51. Sarah Estrella, 61, of Davis, was right on her heels in 13:38:12, just 21 seconds back. Marianne Paulson, 62, of Pleasanton, had faded slightly mid-race (dropping to 42nd among women at the fifth checkpoint) but stormed the final segment with the 20th-fastest women's split on Last Gasp→Finish to close in 13:42:24. All three earned their places the hard way — by running the finish faster than almost everyone around them.