F20-24 Marathon: Molly Hopple Runs Down the Field in Cleveland's Heat

• Molly Hopple wins in 3:09:31 (7:14/mi), the fastest F20-24 finisher by over three minutes in a 141-woman age group.
• Laikin Tarlton ran the 4th-fastest women's split from 5K to 10K but faded from 4th among women to 12th by the finish, crossing 2nd in F20-24 in 3:12:36.
• Maddie Davis and Elly Heine finished 3rd and 4th separated by just 8 seconds (3:19:03 vs. 3:19:11), both averaging 7:36/mi — but Davis got there by charging through the field while Heine faded back through it.
• Raena Willett and Megan Brokamp rounded out the top five and six in 3:20:10 and 3:20:18 — just 8 seconds apart after 26.2 miles.

Molly Hopple, 22, from Youngstown, turned in the defining performance of the F20-24 age group on a warm Cleveland morning — 75°F with 68% humidity is no small ask. She didn't lead the women's field early, sitting 17th among women at the first checkpoint, but she climbed steadily and purposefully: 13th, 12th, 10th, and then 8th by the penultimate checkpoint. She gave a touch back in the final stretch, settling at 9th among women overall, but her 7th-fastest women's split from the half to 19.1 miles tells you exactly when she made her decisive move. Her 3:09:31 — a 7:14/mi average — left the rest of F20-24 well behind.

The contrast between Davis and Heine at 3rd and 4th is one of the sharpest storylines in the age group. Heine began the race as high as 9th among women but drifted steadily — 11th, 15th, 20th — as the miles and the heat accumulated. Davis was doing the exact opposite: starting 41st among women and methodically climbing all the way to 18th, posting the 11th-fastest women's split from the half to 19.1 miles in the process. They arrived at the finish just 8 seconds apart, but they got there from entirely different directions.

Tarlton's story is similarly instructive. Her 4th-fastest women's split from 5K to 10K was genuinely electric early racing, and she was sitting 4th among women through 10K. But sustaining that pace through Cleveland's humidity proved costly — she slipped to 6th, 8th, 11th, and ultimately 12th among women, finishing 2nd in F20-24 in 3:12:36. Still a strong result, but a reminder of how punishing a fast early split can be on a warm May morning. Behind her, Willett (3:20:10) and Brokamp (3:20:18) ran remarkably even races to claim 5th and 6th, separated by just 8 seconds after more than three hours of racing.