F25-29: Daisy Jepkemei Wins in the Heat

• Jepkemei takes the F25-29 title in 31:39 (5:06/mi), running to 7th among all women and posting the 7th-fastest women's split from 5K to 8K.
• Hiwot Gebremaryam finished 2nd in 32:06, closing with the 8th-fastest women's split on the final 8K-to-finish stretch — a strong late push that held off the field.
• Tristin van Ord (Blowing Rock, NC) cracked the top five with the 9th-fastest women's 5K–8K split, climbing from 15th among women at the 5K mark to 14th by the finish.
• A 1:04 gap separates the top five from 6th-place Annie Heffernan — the podium contenders were racing a different race than the rest of the field.

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Boston in late June delivered genuine summer conditions — 87°F, 66% humidity, and an 18 mph wind — and Daisy Jepkemei (age 28) handled it better than anyone in the F25-29 group. She was already 7th among all women by the 5K checkpoint and never budged from there, crossing in 31:39 at a 5:06/mi clip. That kind of composure in that kind of heat is worth noting.

Behind her, Hiwot Gebremaryam of Addis Abeba ran a measured race — 9th among women at every checkpoint — and then turned in the 8th-fastest women's closing split (8K to finish) to seal 2nd place in 32:06. Citlali Moscote was equally consistent, holding 10th among women throughout and finishing 3rd in 32:25. Neither faded; neither surged. They simply ran even, smart races and earned the podium.

The most interesting movement in the top five came from Tristin van Ord (Blowing Rock, NC), who arrived at the 5K mark in 15th among women and worked her way to 14th by the finish, driven by the 9th-fastest women's split in that 5K–8K middle segment. Mercy Chelangat, 4th overall in the age group, slipped one spot in the women's standings between 5K and the finish but still closed in 32:37. The five of them were separated by just 1:05 — a tight cluster under genuinely difficult conditions, in a field of 1,038 F25-29 finishers.