F70-74: Roslyn Smith Runs Away With It at CIM

• Roslyn Smith wins the F70-74 age group in 3:46:39 (8:39/mi), finishing more than 13 minutes clear of runner-up Myung Kim (3:59:48).
• Barb Urquhart and Sharon Chaix staged the closest battle of the day — separated by just 8 seconds (4:51:03 vs. 4:51:11) at 5th and 6th.
• Smith's strongest stretch came between 30K and 40K, where she posted the 1,040th-fastest split among all women in the field — a notable surge that coincided with her climbing from 1,311th to 1,169th among the women.
• Twelve women finished the F70-74 age group, ranging from Smith's 3:46:39 to Pamela St. Martin's 7:00:36.

On a cool, mild Sacramento morning — 57°F with a light breeze — Roslyn Smith, 73, of Comox, put together one of the more commanding performances of the entire age group. Running 8:39 per mile from start to finish, she was never seriously threatened. Her gender place tells the story of a steady, confident run: she drifted back slightly in the early miles before methodically reeling in hundreds of women across the second half. That 30K–40K segment was her signature moment, and she crossed the line at 3:46:39 to claim the win by 13 minutes and 9 seconds.

Myung Kim, also 73, out of Los Angeles, held her own for a solid runner-up finish at 3:59:48 (9:09/mi). Kim ran a composed early race — she actually moved up in the women's field from 1,458th at the 5K to 1,426th by 15K — before gradually settling back in the second half to finish 2nd in the age group. JoungSook Lim, 70, of Glendale, rounded out the podium in 4:27:29, though she faced a tougher back half, drifting further back among the women's field as the miles accumulated.

The race's most gripping battle was for 5th place. Barb Urquhart, 74, of Calgary, and Sharon Chaix, 72, of San Diego, were locked together all the way to the finish — Urquhart crossing in 4:51:03 and Chaix just 8 seconds later in 4:51:11. Behind them, the field spread out considerably, with Debbra Jacobs-Robinson (5:26:55), Kai Parks (5:50:36), and Lynda Orban (6:37:32) leading the back half of the group. Pamela St. Martin of Rocklin completed all 26.2 miles in 7:00:36 to close out the F70-74 field — every one of the 12 starters a finisher.