B.A.A. 10K — F45-49: Beloou Wins It in the Heat

• Trudi Beloou (age 49, Amersham) took the F45-49 title in 40:47 — a 6:34/mi pace that put her 51st among all women on a sweltering 85°F morning in Boston.
• Ellen Binder (North Kingstown, RI) was runner-up in 42:15, finishing 1:28 back — and closed well, posting the 62nd-fastest women's split on the 8K-to-finish stretch.
• Places 3 through 5 were a genuine battle: Emily McDivitt, Theresa Helsel, and Yordanka Shtiliyanova finished within 14 seconds of each other (44:36–44:50), with Helsel and Shtiliyanova both moving up through the women's field in the back half.
• 303 women finished in the F45-49 age group, making it one of the deeper fields of the day.

Trudi Beloou was the class of the F45-49 field from the start. She entered the 5K-to-8K stretch already sitting 56th among all women, then ticked up to 51st — and held that position through the finish. Her 46th-fastest women's split across that middle segment underlines that she was running with the sharpest women on the course, not just her age group. On a day when 85°F heat and 64% humidity made every mile feel longer, a 6:34 average is a serious effort.

Ellen Binder settled into her own rhythm and made it count when it mattered most, posting a strong close on the final 2K. The gap to Beloou was a clear 1:28 — comfortable at the top — but Binder's position among all women barely shifted after 5K, a sign she ran an even, controlled race rather than fading in the heat.

The real drama in this age group unfolded just off the podium. McDivitt, Helsel, and Shtiliyanova were locked in a three-way contest from mid-race onward. Helsel actually moved up through the women's field between 5K and 8K — climbing from 95th to 89th — while Shtiliyanova made her best move in the final push, cracking the top-100 among women by the finish. In the end, just 14 seconds separated third from fifth, with McDivitt holding on for the final podium spot at 44:36.