B.A.A. 10K F35-39: Takashima Takes the Title in Boston's Summer Heat

• Yuka Takashima won the F35-39 age group in 33:08 (5:20/mi), finishing 15th among all women.
• Molly Huddle ran the 17th-fastest women's closing split (8K to finish) to hold 2nd in 34:00 — 52 seconds back.
• Bria Wetsch rounded out the podium in 34:44, posting the 22nd-fastest women's closing split to secure 3rd.
• Places 19 and 20 — Rachel Steely and Annealise Bonistalli — both clocked 44:50, separated only by the timing chip.

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With 87°F heat, an 18 mph wind, and humidity pressing toward summer-in-Boston misery, the F35-39 age group at the 2024 B.A.A. 10K was no place for a casual effort. Yuka Takashima, representing Yokohama's Kohoku Ward, made it look controlled anyway. She ran 5:20 per mile across the full 10K, held 15th among all women from the midpoint home, and even contributed the 15th-fastest women's split on the 5K-to-8K stretch — a sign she was pressing through the meat of the race, not just surviving it.

Behind her, Molly Huddle of Providence made a late statement. The 39-year-old held 18th among women from start to finish, but her 17th-fastest women's split over the final 2K showed she was still moving with purpose when others were wilting in the heat. Her 34:00 finish — 5:28 per mile in those conditions — left her 52 seconds behind Takashima, a gap that tells the real story of just how dominant the winner was.

Bria Wetsch of Centennial, CO, was similarly composed in the closing kilometers, posting the 22nd-fastest women's finish split to land 3rd in 34:44. The top three were separated by a minute and 36 seconds, while the gap from 3rd to 4th — Lucy Brash in 37:42 — was a much wider 2:58, making the podium its own distinct tier on a punishing day.

Deep in the field, the race offered its own drama. Shana Frank (5th, 39:45) ran the 52nd-fastest women's closing split, suggesting a strong finish after a hard middle stretch. And at positions 19 and 20, Steely and Bonistalli both crossed in 44:50 — the timing system needed its decimal places to split them apart.