F1-19: Pessin Dominates the Youngest Women's Field at CIM

• Alissa Pessin, 18, wins in 3:16:58 (7:31/mi) — nearly 28 minutes clear of 2nd place.
• Mila Opalenik, 16, takes 2nd in 3:45:06; Amanda Kindel, 19, rounds out the podium in 3:51:13.
• Tzewa Dingpontsawa, age 12, finishes 6th in 4:10:01 — one of the youngest marathoners on the course.
• 20 finishers completed the F1-19 field across a 3-hour-plus span from front to back.

Alissa Pessin of Granite Bay ran one of the most commanding performances in the F1-19 group, crossing in 3:16:58 at a 7:31/mi clip. What makes her win even more striking is how she ran it: her position among all women improved steadily from 744th at the first checkpoint all the way to 492nd by the finish, a relentless climb through the women's field across 26.2 miles. She closed particularly well, posting the 186th-fastest women's split on the 40K-to-finish stretch — a strong final push that underscored just how controlled and progressive her effort was.

Behind her, Pine Grove's Mila Opalenik, just 16 years old, held on for 2nd in 3:45:06. Her race told a different story — she moved up sharply in the early miles but gradually ceded ground in the women's field from 10K onward, finishing 29 minutes back of Pessin but well clear of 3rd. Amanda Kindel of Escondido ran the opposite arc: she started deep in the women's field and spent the entire race moving forward, climbing from 1,782nd among women at 5K all the way to 1,323rd by the finish. Her 3:51:13 earned her 3rd in the age group, just under six minutes behind Opalenik.

Sophia Ward (3:54:59) and Maddison Monical (4:08:47) rounded out the top five, while 12-year-old Tzewa Dingpontsawa of Palo Alto finished 6th in 4:10:01 — a remarkable feat at any age, let alone at 12. The field spread wide from there, with Safiya Lahham completing the group in 6:23:44, meaning the 20th finisher crossed more than three hours after the winner. Every one of these athletes finished a full marathon on a cool Sacramento morning — and that alone is worth noting.