B.A.A. 10K F60-64: Polley Holds Off Ringheiser in a Sweltering Boston Showdown

• Jane Polley (Newton, MA, age 61) won the F60-64 age group in 47:50 (7:42/mi), edging Karen Ringheiser by just 4 seconds.
• Karen Ringheiser (Waban, MA, age 60) ran 47:54 — her 5K–8K split was the 280th-fastest among all women, stronger than Polley's 310th-fastest on that same stretch.
• The podium was separated by just over a minute: Polley (47:50), Ringheiser (47:54), Terry Buchmiller (48:55).
• Nancy Hurley (Boston, MA, age 63) was the only top-5 finisher to gain places between 5K and 8K, climbing from 386th to 372nd among the women before settling at 383rd at the finish.

With 87°F heat, 18 mph winds, and thick humidity blanketing Boston, the F60-64 field of 126 made every second count. Jane Polley set the pace from the front and never fully relinquished it, holding a women's field position in the 240s through 5K before gradually drifting back to 272nd by the finish — a natural consequence of racing hard early in brutal conditions. Her 7:42/mi average was the fastest in the age group and proved just enough.

Karen Ringheiser was the closest pursuer throughout. She was actually the stronger runner from 5K to 8K — her 280th-fastest women's split on that stretch outpaced Polley's 310th — but the gap she needed to close was simply too small and the finish line came too soon. Four seconds after Polley crossed, Ringheiser did too, making it one of the tighter age-group wins of the morning.

Terry Buchmiller (Squantum, MA, age 61) rounded out the podium in 48:55, though her race told a different story: she was 282nd among women at 5K but had slipped to 346th by the finish, suggesting the heat took a real toll in the back half. Deborah Sakr (49:32) and Nancy Hurley (49:34) were nearly inseparable for 4th and 5th, separated by just 2 seconds — with Hurley the only one of the two who was actually moving through the women's field in the 5K-to-8K stretch rather than fading through it.