F35-39 at CIM 2021: Paauwe Runs Away With It

• Melissa Paauwe wins the F35-39 age group in 2:39:45 (6:06/mi) — more than three minutes clear of the field.
• Anne Marie Everhart takes 2nd in 2:42:51, logging the 25th-fastest women's split on the 15K-to-half stretch as she moved from 30th to 25th among women during that segment.
• Caroline Coble and Elizabeth Camy were separated by just 40 seconds at the line (3rd in 2:45:18 vs. 4th in 2:45:58), with Coble finishing stronger — her 39th-fastest women's split on the final 40K-to-finish stretch helped her hold off a late charge.
• Georganne Watson (5th, 2:46:09) and Kayte Partch (6th, 2:46:11) finished just two seconds apart, Watson posting the 24th-fastest women's closing split to nearly overtake her.

Calgary's Melissa Paauwe was simply in a different race. Running 6:06 per mile across 26.2 miles in Sacramento's mild December conditions — 57°F, a light 4 mph breeze — she crossed in 2:39:45 and was never seriously threatened. Her 19th-fastest women's split on the 5K-to-15K stretch showed she was moving early, and while her position among the women's field drifted slightly in the back half, the clock told the real story: nobody in the F35-39 age group came within three minutes of her.

Philadelphia's Anne Marie Everhart made her move in the middle miles. Sitting 30th among women at the 5K mark, she surged to 25th by the half on the strength of the 25th-fastest women's split on that 15K-to-half segment, before fading slightly to finish 31st among women overall — but comfortably 2nd in the age group at 2:42:51.

Behind Everhart, the real drama played out across places three through six. Coble came to Sacramento from San Francisco and ran a negative-ish arc — she was 37th among women at 5K but drifted back to 45th by 40K before rallying with one of the stronger closing splits in the women's field to claim 3rd in 2:45:18. Camy had looked like a podium threat, climbing as high as 39th among women mid-race, but faded to 49th by the finish, settling for 4th in 2:45:58.

The final sprint of the day belonged to Watson and Partch. Watson's 24th-fastest women's closing split nearly caught Partch, but the gap at the line was two seconds — 2:46:09 to 2:46:11 — in Watson's favor. Behind them, the F35-39 age group ran 555 finishers deep, a testament to the depth of women's marathon running in this age group at one of the sport's fastest courses.