F60-64: Carol Sexton Runs Away with It in 3:19:31

• Carol Sexton (1st, 3:19:31, 7:37/mi) won the F60-64 age group by nearly two and a half minutes over Laura Kennedy (2nd, 3:22:10).
• The top four finished within 7:28 of each other — Sexton (3:19:31), Kennedy (3:22:10), Janet Norem (3rd, 3:25:32), and Karen Kunz (4th, 3:26:59) — before a gap of nearly 19 minutes to 5th.
• Lanore Bergenske (5th, 3:45:43) and Debra Hexsel (6th, 3:46:01) were separated by just 18 seconds despite both running 8:37/mi average pace.
• Janet Norem's strongest segment came between 25K and 30K, where she posted the best split of the top three on that stretch, helping her hold off Kunz for the final podium spot.

On a cool, damp Sacramento morning — 56°F, light rain, and a 9 mph wind — Carol Sexton of Woodinville, WA ran a controlled, confident race to claim the F60-64 title. Running 7:37 per mile across 26.2, she spent much of the race steadily climbing through the women's field, moving from 597th among women at the 5K mark all the way to 522nd by the finish — a net gain of 75 places. Her strongest surge came late: she posted the 396th-fastest women's split on the 35K-to-40K segment, a telling sign that she was still accelerating while others were fading.

Laura Kennedy of Lake Forest, IL ran an even more progressive race, advancing from 675th among women at 5K to 571st at the finish — a climb of over 100 places. Her 3:22:10 (7:43/mi) was a strong runner-up effort, but Sexton had built enough of a cushion that Kennedy could never quite close the gap. Janet Norem (3:25:32, 7:50/mi) secured 3rd with a well-timed mid-race push, while Karen Kunz of Rancho Cordova, CA — racing on home turf — held on for 4th in 3:26:59 (7:54/mi).

The rest of the 80-woman field spread out across the afternoon. The 7th-through-9th finishers — Janet Chiu (3:56:07), Judith Donnelly (3:56:17), and Angie Pozzi (3:56:29) — arrived in a tight cluster within 22 seconds of one another, adding one of the day's more compelling sub-battles to a group that delivered real racing from front to back.