Masters Women at Chicago 13.1: Frederick Finishes Strong to Claim the Crown

• Linda Frederick won the Masters Women race in 1:33:37 (7:08/mi), climbing from 49th to 36th among all women across the final stretch.
• 25-second gap separates the top two: Maria Luevano-Salazar finished 2nd in 1:34:02, with Evance Stalley 3rd in 1:34:13 — the tightest podium in the field.
• Melinda Kennedy made the biggest charge of anyone in the top 10, moving from 76th to 53rd among all women on her way to 5th in 1:38:00.
• A three-way near-collision at 7th–9th: Traci Ethridge (1:40:52), Mollie Dowling (1:40:57), and Alejandra Baidoc (1:40:58) — separated by just six seconds across three places.

Linda Frederick ran a patient, purposeful race. She entered the back half of the course sitting 47th among all women and kept climbing — picking off runners one by one to reach 36th by the finish line. Her closing leg (15K to finish) ranked 33rd-fastest among all women, a genuinely strong push in 72°F heat with a 10 mph wind. At 7:08/mi, she was the sharpest edge in a deep Masters Women field of 1,077 finishers.

The story of 2nd place is almost the mirror image. Maria Luevano-Salazar came out fast — sitting 23rd among all women through the early miles — and gradually faded through the second half, dropping to 40th by the finish. Her first-half split ranked 33rd-fastest among all women, so the speed was real; it just didn't hold. She still crossed in 1:34:02, good for a strong runner-up finish, but Frederick's late surge made the difference. Evance Stalley, 3rd in 1:34:13, ran a steadier race throughout and posted the 35th-fastest closing split among all women — enough to hold off Joann Marinkovich (4th, 1:35:24) by over a minute.

Further back, Melinda Kennedy was the most dramatic mover in the top five, going from 76th among all women at the opening checkpoint all the way to 53rd at the finish — a climb powered by the 47th-fastest closing split among all women. And the battle for 7th through 9th was one of the tightest multi-way scraps of the morning: Ethridge, Dowling, and Baidoc finished in 1:40:52, 1:40:57, and 1:40:58 — three runners, six seconds, three distinct places, all running at 7:42/mi.