F25-29 at CIM 2018: Richardson Holds Off a Three-Way Sprint for the Age-Group Crown

• Tara Richardson wins the F25-29 age group in 2:42:07 (6:11/mi), edging Andrea Toppin (2:42:12) and Lizzy Gregory (2:42:14) — the top three separated by just seven seconds across 26.2 miles.
• Lizzy Gregory's closing surge produced the 21st-fastest women's split from 40K to the finish, rocketing her from 73rd among women at 35K all the way to 49th — the biggest late move of anyone on the podium.
• Carissa Galloway ran the 27th-fastest women's split from 35K to 40K, powering from 96th to 63rd among women during that stretch to claim 5th in the age group at 2:42:32.
• 532 finishers made F25-29 one of the deepest fields on the course, with the top 20 all coming in under 2:46.

Cool, calm conditions in Sacramento — 53°F and barely a breath of wind — set the table for fast racing, and the F25-29 age group delivered one of the tightest finishes of the day. Tara Richardson of Glenwood Springs, CO controlled the back half of the race with quiet efficiency, holding a steady position in the mid-50s among women from 35K onward and crossing in 2:42:07 to claim the age-group title. Her margin of victory? Five seconds over Andrea Toppin.

Toppin (2:42:12) ran a measured, consistent race out of Saint Paul, MN, sitting in the high 50s among women for much of the middle miles before a strong 40K-to-finish split — the 34th-fastest among women — nearly brought her level with Richardson. But it was Lizzy Gregory who made the race genuinely dramatic. Gregory was as far back as 85th among women at the 5K mark, and still 73rd at 35K. Then she unleashed the 21st-fastest women's closing split from 40K to the finish, vaulting past the field to land 3rd in the age group at 2:42:14 — just two seconds behind Toppin, seven behind Richardson.

Fourth and fifth place were equally hard-fought. Caitlin Keen (2:42:30) ran a composed, measured race to hold off Carissa Galloway (2:42:32), who had been as far back as 105th among women at the gun. Galloway's 27th-fastest women's split from 35K to 40K was the engine of her charge, and she nearly ran out of course catching Keen. Camelia Mayfield and Brooke Slayman both finished in 2:42:38 to round out the top seven, with Slayman's place confirming she edged Mayfield at the line despite the identical displayed time.