Chicago Marathon 2018: Anne Rosen Surges Late to Claim F55-59 Honors

• Anne Rosen won the F55-59 age group, mounting one of the race's most dramatic late charges — moving from outside the top 4,900 among women at 30K all the way to 58th among women by the finish.
• Nina Wavik Ytterstad (Oslo) was the steadiest runner in the group, sitting 154th among women at the opening checkpoint and never straying far from that line, finishing 5th in F55-59 and 239th among women — consistent from gun to tape.
• Wendy Pethick (Victoria) climbed powerfully through the women's field all race long, crossing as 3rd in F55-59 and 128th among women after posting the 578th-fastest women's split on the 35K–40K segment.
• 843 women finished in the F55-59 age group on a cool, damp Chicago morning — 58°F with light rain and a 12 mph wind.

The F55-59 age group told two very different stories at the front. Nina Wavik Ytterstad came out of Oslo flying from the start — she was already 154th among women through the first checkpoint, and she methodically moved up to 91st by 35K. But the late miles took their toll, and she slipped back to finish 5th in the age group and 239th among women. Meanwhile, the eventual winner, Anne Rosen of Chicago, was buried in the pack for most of the afternoon. She was 4,924th among women at the halfway point — barely a blip in the massive women's field — before something clicked. She surged through the back half, cracking the top 4,800, then 4,300, and ultimately finishing 58th among all women. That kind of move over the final 12 kilometers is rare and emphatic.

Tracy Decourcy of Plainfield ran a similarly aggressive second half, climbing from 5,838th among women at the 5K mark all the way to 67th by the finish to claim 2nd in the age group. Wendy Pethick of Victoria was relentlessly steady in her own right, never fading and posting a strong 35K–40K segment to seal 3rd. Vickie Godfrey of Chicago ran the opposite race — strong early and 1,349th among women through 5K — but faded across the second half to finish 4th. In a group of 843 finishers spread across the wet streets of Chicago, the podium was ultimately decided by who found another gear when it mattered most.