F60-64 at CIM 2018: Sexton Runs Away With It

• Carol Sexton, 3:20:14 (7:38/mi) — won the F60-64 age group by 1:47 over runner-up Merry Dearmon.
• Merry Dearmon, 3:22:01 — the 64-year-old from Tucson posted the stronger finish, running the 40K-to-finish segment as the 353rd-fastest women's split on that stretch.
• Cindy Rhodes, 3:33:03 — third place, more than 11 minutes back of Sexton, but climbed steadily through the women's field from the half onward.
• 97 finishers completed the F60-64 race on a cool, calm Sacramento morning — near-perfect marathon conditions at 53°F with no wind.

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Carol Sexton of Woodinville, WA had the F60-64 race well in hand from the opening miles. Running at a 7:38/mi clip, the 61-year-old was already among the top 600 women in the field by 5K and kept climbing — reaching 538th among women by the finish. Her 3:20:14 is a commanding performance, and the 1:47 margin she built over second place left little doubt about who owned this age group on the day.

Merry Dearmon, 64, made a race of it in the back half. The Tucson runner started conservatively — sitting 693rd among women at 5K — but worked her way forward relentlessly, ultimately crossing in 3:22:01 at 7:42/mi. Her 40K-to-finish split was the 353rd-fastest among all women on that segment, a strong closing kick that secured second place with room to spare over third.

Cindy Rhodes of Kelowna, BC rounded out the podium in 3:33:03 (8:08/mi), finishing third despite beginning the race deep in the women's field. She was most efficient between the half and 25K — logging the 747th-fastest women's split on that stretch — and steadily climbed into the top 900 among women before a slight fade in the final miles. Fourth went to Diane Harper of Tucson in 3:36:25, and Connie Rowden of Folsom, CA — racing on home turf — rounded out the top five in 3:41:26.