F30-34 at CIM 2025: Buchanan Breaks Away Late to Claim the Age Group

• Carolyn Buchanan wins in 2:32:50 (5:50/mi), climbing from 33rd among women at the midpoint to 21st by mile 25 — the 3rd-fastest women's split from 40K to the finish sealed it.
• Bridget Blum runs 2:36:40 (5:59/mi) for second, posting the 32nd-fastest women's split from 30K to 35K as she moved from 79th among women at 10K all the way to 52nd at the line.
• Riley Brady (2:41:24) and Rozlyn Boutin (2:41:27) separated by just three seconds for 4th and 5th — Brady faded from 46th among women early to 81st, while Boutin charged from 101st to 82nd over the final stretch.
• 612 women finished in the F30-34 age group, with positions 6 through 10 packed tightly between 2:42:22 and 2:43:36 — a span of just 74 seconds across five runners.

In cool, damp conditions — 46°F and 86% humidity under overcast skies — the F30-34 age group delivered one of the day's sharpest late-race stories. Carolyn Buchanan was never far off the pace, hovering around 32nd–33rd among women through the bulk of the race, but it was the final stretch that defined her morning. Her 40K-to-finish split ranked 3rd among all women, and she used it to surge from 33rd to 21st in the women's field and claim the age group in 2:32:50 — a 5:50/mi average that left the rest of the F30-34 field well behind.

Bridget Blum was the group's most consistent mover. After sitting 79th among women at 10K, she ground her way forward all day, running the 32nd-fastest women's split from 30K to 35K and ultimately finishing 52nd among women in 2:36:40 — a 3:50 gap back to Buchanan but a clear and well-earned second place. Alsu Lenneman of Canton, MI rounded out the podium in 2:40:14, also closing well with the 58th-fastest women's split over the final 2K, moving from 108th among women early in the race to 74th at the finish.

The 4th-vs-5th battle told a tale of two very different races. Riley Brady of Boulder came out fast — 46th among women through 5K — but gradually faded to 81st by the finish, crossing in 2:41:24. Boutin, meanwhile, ran the opposite arc: buried in 101st at the 10K mark, she clawed back to 82nd and crossed in 2:41:27. Three seconds separated them after 26.2 miles of very different journeys. Behind them, Julie Wiemerslage (2:42:22), Sammie Kidder (2:42:26), Hilary Heskett (2:42:48), Sarah Kushner (2:43:07), and Alejandra Santiago (2:43:36) completed a remarkably tight top-10 stretch — five runners in under 75 seconds.