Boston Marathon F75-79: Gilbert Commands the Age Group, Cooper Closes Hard

• Sharlet Gilbert (CA) wins in 4:16:30 (9:47/mi), the fastest among 14 finishers in the F75-79 field — nearly eight minutes clear of second place.
• Char Cooper (IN) runs 4:24:10 to claim second, steadily climbing through the women's field from her early position all the way to the finish.
• Sue Landa (GA, 4:31:46) and Donna Pierson (AZ, 4:32:23) finish third and fourth separated by just 37 seconds — the tightest gap on the podium.
• Kathryn Parks (WA) rounds out the top five in 4:40:48, with the field then spreading across a wide range to Margaret Woisin's 6:01:31 in 14th.

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Sharlet Gilbert of California owned this race from the front, crossing in 4:16:30 at a 9:47/mi clip. She ran the early miles in the thick of the women's field — sitting near 8,864th among women at the first checkpoint — but the race's signature hills took their toll on others, and Gilbert's position among the women actually improved through the later stages, climbing back to 9,539th by the finish. That kind of resilience through the Newton miles is what separates a winner, and Gilbert's margin of nearly eight minutes over second place reflects it.

Char Cooper of Indiana ran the race differently. She started conservatively — 10,160th among women early on — and spent every subsequent checkpoint moving forward, reaching 9,969th before a slight drift to 9,988th at the line. Her 4:24:10 (10:05/mi) was a genuine catch-up performance, and her late-race split from mile 24 to 40K was among the stronger closing efforts in the field. She finishes a clear second, 7:40 behind Gilbert.

The battle for third and fourth was the afternoon's sharpest subplot. Sue Landa (GA) crossed in 4:31:46 and Donna Pierson (AZ) in 4:32:23 — 37 seconds apart after 26.2 miles. Landa, who moved steadily forward through the second half, and Pierson, who faded from her early position (9,901st among women) all the way back to 10,387th by the finish, arrived at nearly the same clock time via very different journeys. Kathryn Parks (WA) completed the top five in 4:40:48, finishing more than eight minutes behind Pierson but well clear of Jan Brett (MA) in sixth at 4:50:46.

The back half of the F75-79 field — seven finishers between 5:06:02 and 6:01:31 — tells its own story of grit on a cool, breezy Boston morning. Joanne Neustrand (FL, 5:06:02) through Margaret Woisin (6:01:31) all made it to Boylston Street, and in this age group, that is the point.