F45-49 at CIM 2024: Cushman Breaks Three Hours to Claim the Age Group

• Anne Cushman (age 47, Rancho Cordova) won the F45-49 group in 2:57:00 (6:45/mi), the only finisher in this age group to crack 3 hours.
• Samantha Feldman made the most dramatic move of the podium, climbing from 245th among women at the 5K to 183rd by the finish — a net gain of 62 places in the women's field.
• The podium spread just 2:51 across three finishers: Cushman (2:57:00), Andrea Wilson (2:58:18), and Feldman (2:59:51).
• Places 4 through 6 were decided in a span of just 29 seconds — Kathy Pearman (3:04:27), Elissa Ballas (3:04:51), and Seanna Robinson (3:04:56).

Anne Cushman had home-course advantage in Rancho Cordova, and she used it. Running 6:45/mi through Sacramento's December chill — 59°F and a whisper of wind — she crossed in 2:57:00, the lone sub-3:00 finisher among 314 women in the F45-49 group. Her gender standing actually drifted slightly through the race, from 117th among women at 5K to 135th at the finish, but none of that mattered inside the age group, where she was untouchable.

Behind her, Andrea Wilson (49, Comox, BC) ran a steady, disciplined 2:58:18. Wilson's best segment came between 15K and 20K, where she posted the 153rd-fastest women's split on that stretch and moved from 166th to 158th among women — a quiet, controlled build that put her firmly on the podium. Samantha Feldman (46, Southlake, TX) was the story of the chase pack: she started 245th among women and was still 223rd at the half, but a strong 25K–30K segment — 132nd-fastest women's split on that stretch — fueled a surge that carried her to 3rd in the age group in 2:59:51.

The battle for 4th through 6th was the race's most compressed subplot. Pearman, Ballas, and Robinson finished within 29 seconds of one another, separated by margins that a single bad mile could have reshuffled entirely. Ballas (45, Vacaville) showed her best legs late, posting the 218th-fastest women's split from 30K to 35K, while Pearman had been the stronger mover through the middle miles. Robinson (49, Toronto) slipped in just five seconds behind Ballas to round out a tight, competitive finish to the top six.