California International Marathon F40-44: Audrua Sysum Owns the Age Group

• Sole finisher and champion: Audrua Sysum, 40, crossed in 5:00:56 (11:29/mi) to claim the F40-44 title outright.
• Early speed: Sysum posted the fastest women's split on the 5K→10K segment — the standout moment of her morning.
• Competitive throughout: She held 2nd among all women for the majority of the race, briefly slipping to 3rd before reclaiming that spot by the finish.

Audrua Sysum of Antioch came to Sacramento and made the F40-44 age group entirely her own — the only finisher in the bracket, and she made it count. Crossing in 5:00:56 at an 11:29/mi pace across the Folsom-to-Sacramento course, she earned the age-group win on a cool, overcast December morning — 46°F with a light 3 mph breeze — conditions that were about as cooperative as race day gets.

What makes Sysum's run more than a solo effort is where she sat in the broader women's field. She spent virtually the entire race running in 2nd among all women, a position she held from the opening 5K through the finish, with only a brief dip to 3rd somewhere in the middle miles before reasserting herself. That kind of sustained standing in the women's race tells a real story about the pace she was carrying.

And then there's the 5K-to-10K segment, where Sysum turned in the fastest women's split of anyone on the course. That early surge — the sharpest stretch of running among all the women — set the tone for her day and showed she came to race, not just finish. Crossing the line in just over five hours, Sysum takes the F40-44 crown and a legitimate place in the women's race story at CIM 2025.