Chicago Marathon F60-64: Semeniuk surges through the second half to claim the title

• Patricia Semeniuk won the F60-64 age group, climbing from 9,305th among women at the 5K mark to 479th by the finish — one of the most dramatic progressive moves in the field.
• Donna Leonard, a Chicago local, posted the 2nd-fastest women's split between the Half and 25K, rocketing from 20,543rd among women at the halfway point to 613th at the finish — the biggest single-race surge on the podium.
• Avril Riddell (London) held a steady position in the top 3,000 among women through 35K before finishing 3rd in the age group, crossing 1,248th among women.
• Joan Samuelson ran the most consistent women's race of anyone in the top five, sitting near 300th among women from the gun all the way through 30K — and her 267th-fastest women's split on the 35K–40K stretch confirmed she still had something left late.

Patricia Semeniuk of Courtice came to Chicago and turned in one of the great back-half performances of the entire women's field. Starting conservatively — 9,305th among women through the opening 5K — she spent the first half of the race quietly threading her way forward. The real move came after 30K, and by the finish she had climbed all the way to 479th among women and first in the F60-64 age group. That kind of sustained, relentless progression over 26.2 miles in cool, damp conditions is the hallmark of a perfectly executed race.

The battle for second was shaped by one of the most explosive mid-race surges of the day. Donna Leonard, racing on her home streets in Chicago, was still 20,543rd among women at the halfway mark — seemingly out of contention. Then she unleashed the 2nd-fastest women's split in the entire field from the Half through 25K, a stretch that propelled her into the F60-64 podium and ultimately to 2nd place and 613th among women. It was a breathtaking move that transformed her race entirely.

Avril Riddell of London ran a composed, measured effort to take 3rd, sitting patiently inside the top 3,000 among women for much of the race before finishing 1,248th. Joan Samuelson of Freeport was the model of consistency — barely drifting from around 300th among women across the first 30K — and her 267th-fastest women's split on the 35K-to-40K leg showed real strength in the closing miles, earning her 4th. Mary Ring of Mission Hills rounded out the top five, finishing 1,502nd among women after a strong second-half charge of her own.