F45-49: Maranzano Runs Away With It at CIM

• Jen Maranzano, 46, wins F45-49 in 2:47:33 — a 6:23/mi average that left the field nearly six minutes back.
• Brenda Hodge holds firm for 2nd in 2:53:13 (6:36/mi), finishing 5:40 behind Maranzano and 3:37 clear of the podium's third step.
• Richi Kroupa climbs to 3rd in 2:56:50 (6:45/mi), moving steadily through the women's field all race long and posting the 143rd-fastest women's split on the 35K–40K stretch.
• 457 women finished in F45-49, with the top 20 all breaking 3:26.

Jen Maranzano came to Sacramento and put on a masterclass in patient, relentless racing. Starting the day around 161st among women, she drifted back ever so slightly through the middle miles — sitting as far back as 167th — before methodically reeling in runners one by one. By the finish she had climbed to 121st among women, and her 53rd-fastest women's split on the final 40K-to-finish stretch confirmed she was still accelerating when it mattered most. The 2:47:33 was never seriously threatened.

Brenda Hodge, also of the mid-Atlantic, ran a composed and consistent race for 2nd in 2:53:13. Her position among women barely wavered through the first 30K, hovering between 190th and 193rd, before she found another gear in the back half and climbed to 166th by the finish — capping it with the 116th-fastest women's split on that final 40K-to-finish segment. The gap to Maranzano was a firm 5:40, but Hodge's hold on silver was equally firm, with 3:37 of clear air between her and 3rd.

Richi Kroupa of Huntington Beach was the race's most visible climber, starting 329th among women and finishing 207th — a net gain of more than 120 places across the field. Her 2:56:50 (6:45/mi) earned her the final podium spot, and that 143rd-fastest women's split on the 35K–40K leg shows she was surging precisely when many others were fading. Behind the top three, the 4th-through-20th places were packed between 3:11:20 (Amy Shohet, 4th) and 3:25:15 (Ana Gabriela Cadreche, 20th) — a competitive, deep F45-49 field on a cool December morning in Sacramento.