F65-69: Janet Green Runs Away With It at CIM

• Janet Green wins in 4:06:18 — a 9:24/mi pace that left the rest of the F65-69 field more than 20 minutes behind.
• Elizabeth Conner (4:26:25) and Bella Almaraz (4:32:24) claimed 2nd and 3rd, both surging through the back half to close out strong finishes.
• 4th and 5th were separated by just 14 seconds: Karen Stevenson (4:42:59) edged Terri Hillestad (4:43:13) in the closest battle of the day among the F65-69 group.
• 25 women finished in the F65-69 age group on a cool, calm Sacramento morning — near-ideal marathon conditions at 53°F with no wind.

Janet Green of Courtenay, BC, was in a class of her own on Sunday. Running 9:24 per mile, she crossed in 4:06:18 — a margin of more than 20 minutes over the rest of the F65-69 field. Her move data tells a nuanced story, though: she drifted slightly back among the women's field through the middle miles before steadying and holding firm over the final stretch. That kind of composure over 26.2 miles is what separates a winner from the pack.

Behind her, Elizabeth Conner and Bella Almaraz both put together compelling second halves. Conner, finishing 2nd in 4:26:25, climbed steadily through the women's field from the 10K mark onward — moving from well outside the top 2,500 women to 2,179th by the finish. Almaraz mirrored that arc almost exactly, finishing 3rd in 4:32:24 with a similarly relentless forward march through the field after the halfway point. Both posted their sharpest relative splits on the 35K–40K segment, suggesting they saved something for late in the race.

The fight for 4th was the afternoon's tightest drama. Karen Stevenson of Berkeley finished 4th in 4:42:59, with Calgary's Terri Hillestad just 14 seconds back in 5th at 4:43:13. Both women averaged 10:48 per mile — identical to the displayed second — and both were still climbing through the women's field all the way to the finish line. Further back, Kerri Bartlett (6th, 4:55:00) and Lynne Werner (7th, 4:55:27) staged their own near-mirror finish, separated by just 27 seconds. All 25 finishers in the F65-69 age group completed the marathon on a morning that offered about as good a set of conditions as December in Sacramento can deliver.