F50-54 at CIM: Kieu Chu Owns the Age Group

• Solo champion: Kieu Chu, 53, of Galt, CA, finished in 5:40:25 — the only F50-54 finisher at CIM 2024.
• Consistent women's field position: Held 5th among women at every checkpoint from start to finish.
• Strong closing leg: Posted the 4th-fastest women's split on the 40K-to-Finish stretch.

Kieu Chu came to Sacramento and did exactly what she set out to do: finish the California International Marathon. With no one else toeing the line in the F50-54 age group, she ran her own race from gun to tape — and she ran it well.

At 12:59 per mile over 26.2 miles, Chu held a steady 5th place among the women throughout the entire race, never slipping, never surging dramatically through the field — just locked in and consistent across every split checkpoint. That kind of positional stability over a full marathon is a quiet testament to smart pacing.

The final stretch told the most interesting story. From 40K to the finish line, Chu posted the 4th-fastest women's split in the field — meaning she was running down competitors in the closing miles rather than being run down. In a 59°F, lightly cloudy Sacramento morning with barely a breath of wind, conditions were about as cooperative as race day gets, and she made the most of them when it counted.

Sole finisher, age-group champion, and a strong closer — Kieu Chu takes the F50-54 title at CIM 2024.