Cleveland Marathon 5K — F75-79: Veenhuizen edges a tight three-way battle at the front

• Jean Veenhuizen (Mississauga, ON) wins the F75-79 group in 54:51 at 17:39/mi — a full minute ahead of 2nd place.
• Just 5 seconds separated 2nd and 3rd: Kathryn Mancuso (55:50) narrowly held off Ann Costo (55:55).
• A clear split in the field: the top three finished between 54:51 and 55:55, while 4th and 5th were separated by just 11 seconds around the 1:10 mark.
• All five finishers are aged 75–77, making this one of the tightest age bands on the start line.

Five women lined up for the F75-79 race on a humid Cleveland morning — 67°F, 83% humidity, and a 15 mph wind that made every step feel a little harder than the numbers suggest. Jean Veenhuizen, 75, from Mississauga, Ontario, was the one who handled it best. She crossed in 54:51 at a 17:39/mi pace, claiming the win by 59 seconds over the runner in 2nd — a comfortable margin that reflects a composed, controlled effort from start to finish.

Behind her, the race for the podium was genuinely tight. Kathryn Mancuso of Pittsburgh, also 75, finished 2nd in 55:50, but Ann Costo of Lakewood — running on home turf at 76 — pushed hard enough to close within five seconds, finishing 3rd in 55:55 at 17:60/mi. Those two ran the back half of this race in lockstep, and Mancuso held on only by the slimmest of margins.

Further back, Mary Ann Devogel (Beverly Hills, MI) and Lynn Cram (Kirtland, OH) formed their own two-woman contest around the 1:10 mark. Devogel finished 4th in 1:09:51 at 22:29/mi, with Cram just 11 seconds behind in 5th at 1:10:02. A gap of roughly 14 minutes separated the two clusters — two entirely different races unfolding on the same course on the same windy morning. All five women, ranging from 75 to 77 years old, earned their finishes in conditions that would challenge runners half their age.