Chicago Marathon F75-79: Hansi Rigney Leads a Six-Woman Charge Through the Rain

• Hansi Rigney took the F75-79 title, climbing from 14,520th among women at the first checkpoint all the way to 5,776th by the finish — a relentless surge through the field.
• Honor Hill (2nd) and Morag Leitch (3rd) ran closely matched races; Hill posted the 13,769th-fastest women's split on the 35K–40K segment while Leitch's best move came earlier, with the 12,883rd-fastest women's split on the 25K–30K stretch.
• All six finishers were 75 years old, making this one of the most evenly matched age groups on the start list.
• Liz Borrett (4th) actually drifted back in the women's standings between the start and 5K — moving from 18,198th to 18,691th — before steadily recovering through the middle miles.

Six women aged 75 toed the line in Chicago on a cool, damp October morning — 58°F with light rain and a 12 mph wind — and every one of them crossed the finish. Hansi Rigney of Carmel was the clear standout, running the most progressive race in the group. She entered the women's field ranked 14,520th at the opening checkpoint and never stopped climbing, reaching 10,405th by 30K and then unleashing her best segment of the day — the 6,006th-fastest women's split on the 35K–40K stretch — to land at 5,776th among all women at the line. That kind of late-race acceleration in a field of tens of thousands is a genuine feat at any age.

Honor Hill of Dallas claimed 2nd place, though her path was less linear. She slipped slightly between 10K and 15K before steadying and grinding back through the field, finishing 12,448th among women. Morag Leitch of Scotland, 3rd, made her defining move in the middle of the race — posting the 12,883rd-fastest women's split on the 25K–30K segment — before fading just a touch in the closing miles to finish 13,773rd among women.

Liz Borrett of Kelowna took 4th despite a tricky opening stretch, and Verna Troutman of Blue Springs held a remarkably consistent line all day — her women's ranking barely shifted from start to finish, hovering near 20,300 at nearly every checkpoint before she crossed in 5th. Connie Ratzel, racing on home soil in Chicago, rounded out the six-woman field in 6th. On a raw, blustery day on the lakefront, all six finishing was the story in itself.