California International Marathon F25-29: Hollingsworth Runs Down the Field

• Chelsea Hollingsworth wins in 2:41:25 (6:09/mi), the fastest in the F25-29 age group and a full 1:44 clear of runner-up Erin Menefee.
• Positions 3–6 finished within 11 seconds of each other — Megan Youngren (2:43:52), Shelby Goose (2:43:59), Rachel Viger (2:44:01), and Katie Watson (2:44:02) in one of the tightest mid-podium clusters of the day.
• Shelby Goose posted the 20th-fastest women's split on the 10K–15K segment, while Katie Watson answered with the 16th-fastest women's split from 15K to the half — two rivals trading blows across the same stretch of course.
• 425 women finished in the F25-29 age group, racing through 56°F temperatures and light rain on Sacramento's flat, fast course.

Chelsea Hollingsworth arrived at the start line sitting 81st among women, and what followed was a methodical, relentless march forward. She moved to 67th by 10K, 39th by 25K, and kept threading her way through the women's field all the way to 16th by the finish — a net gain of 65 places among all women. Her 11th-fastest women's split on the Half–25K segment was the engine of that surge, and she never looked back, crossing in 2:41:25 to claim the age group by a decisive margin.

Behind her, Erin Menefee ran a composed race from the front half of the women's field, holding steady through the middle miles before unleashing the 20th-fastest women's split between 30K and 35K — a late-race move that secured her 2nd place in 2:43:09. Megan Youngren, coming all the way from Soldotna, Alaska, was the quiet mover of the podium: she slipped back through the women's field in the first half but stabilized with the 27th-fastest women's split from 25K to 30K and held on for 3rd in 2:43:52.

The real drama unfolded in places 4 through 6. Shelby Goose had surged aggressively early — climbing from 33rd to 19th among women by 30K — but faded to 42nd in the women's field by the finish, clocking 2:43:59. Katie Watson made the opposite journey, starting 89th among women and carving her way to 44th, finishing in 2:44:02. Between them, Rachel Viger slipped into 5th in 2:44:01 — three runners separated by just seven seconds. Further back, the 6th-through-12th finishers were packed into a remarkable 49-second window from 2:44:29 to 2:44:51, making the depth of this age group on a cold, wet Sacramento morning genuinely impressive.