F70-74 Half Marathon: Metz Claims the Age Group, Bartelme Surges Late

• Isola Metz (Wheaton, IL) won the F70-74 age group in 2:16:37 (10:25/mi), the fastest of four finishers.
• Delma Bartelme ran the strongest finishing kick in the group, posting the 860th-fastest women's split on the 15K-to-finish stretch on her way to 2nd in 2:23:35.
• Catherine Saccany finished 3rd in 2:29:31, also closing well with the 977th-fastest women's split from 15K to the line.
• Valerie Tyler rounded out the four-woman field in 3:05:09 — nearly 39 minutes back of Metz, but moving steadily at 14:07/mi to cross the line.

On a warm, breezy Chicago morning — 74°F with a 12 mph wind — four women in the F70-74 age group toed the line for 13.1 miles through the city. Isola Metz of Wheaton set the standard from the start, holding a consistent 10:25/mi pace to finish in 2:16:37 and claim the age group outright. Her gender standing drifted slightly through the middle miles before she reeled a few runners back in the closing stretch, finishing 849th among women — a testament to steady, purposeful racing in the heat.

The more dramatic story unfolded behind her. Delma Bartelme of Chicago was sitting deep in the women's field at the midpoint but unleashed a relentless back-half charge, climbing from 1,305th among women at the 10K mark all the way to 1,041st by the finish — a gain of more than 260 places in the women's field. That surge carried her to 2nd in the age group in 2:23:35, nearly seven minutes behind Metz but well clear of the rest.

Catherine Saccany of Evanston ran a measured race of her own, finishing 3rd in 2:29:31 (11:24/mi) and also closing strongly from 15K onward, climbing from 1,342nd to 1,204th among women over the second half. Valerie Tyler of Chicago brought it home 4th in 3:05:09, maintaining a steady 14:07/mi throughout and moving forward in the women's field across every checkpoint to finish 1,674th among women.