F70-74: De La Torre Dominates, While Shipway and Oppenheimer Stage Late Charges

• Aida De La Torre, 72, won the F70-74 group in 4:46:26 (10:55/mi), finishing more than 25 minutes clear of second place.
• Ellen Oppenheimer and Judy Shipway were separated by just 55 seconds at the line — both clocking in around 5:11–5:12.
• Marianne Salamon Cowan started strong but faded steadily through the second half, dropping from near the front of the women's field to the back of it by the finish.
• Ursula Uhlir, 74, was the oldest finisher in the group and crossed in 6:06:12 at 13:58/mi.

Aida De La Torre, 72, from Manteca, made it look controlled from the gun. She moved steadily through the women's field across the first 30K — climbing from outside the top 3,000 women to 2,792nd — and kept gaining ground through 35K before settling in for a composed finish. Her 10:55/mi average over 26.2 miles was in a class of its own in the F70-74 group, and her 25-minute margin of victory tells the whole story.

Behind her, the race for second was a genuine battle. Ellen Oppenheimer of Oakland and Judy Shipway of Austin ran almost in lockstep through the back half of the race, both producing their best relative splits between 35K and 40K. Oppenheimer edged Shipway by 55 seconds — 5:11:33 to 5:12:28 — after both had been grinding their way up through the women's field in the final miles. Shipway had started further back in the women's field and was still climbing as late as the 30K mark, making her late push all the more impressive.

Marianne Salamon Cowan, 70, from North Chesterfield, Virginia, told a different story. She came through the early miles with real pace — sitting among the top 2,500 women at 5K — but the race caught up with her in the second half. By the finish she had dropped to 3,158th among women, a fade that cost her any shot at the podium despite that promising start.

Ursula Uhlir, 74, and Kai Parks, 72 — both local to the Sacramento area — rounded out the six-finisher field. Uhlir's 6:06:12 at nearly 14 minutes per mile is a genuine achievement at 74, and Parks' 6:23:42 closed out a tough day on the roads for the oldest age group on the course.