Cleveland Half Marathon F65-69: Stimac dominates, 22 women finish strong in the heat

• Peggy Stimac wins in 1:38:37 (7:31/mi), nearly 27 minutes clear of 2nd place — the most commanding margin in the F65-69 field.
• Mary Dengler (2nd, 2:05:32) edged Kathleen Kaye (3rd, 2:07:15) by 1:43 — the closest battle on the podium.
• Maureen Scullin (4th, 2:19:56) was the biggest mover in the field, climbing from outside the top 1,900 women at the start to 1,066th by the finish — a relentless surge through the back half.
• 22 women completed the F65-69 half marathon on a warm, humid Cleveland morning — 75°F with 68% humidity making every mile a negotiation.

Peggy Stimac of Fairport Harbor made this race look like a different event entirely. Running 7:31/mi, she crossed in 1:38:37 and was never seriously challenged within the F65-69 field. Her movement through the women's field tells the story: she entered the 10K-to-12.6-mile stretch ranked 56th among women and kept climbing, finishing 37th — posting the 35th-fastest women's split on that late segment. That's not just winning an age group; that's racing the whole field.

Behind her, Mary Dengler (2:05:32, 9:35/mi) and Kathleen Kaye (2:07:15, 9:42/mi) ran a measured, parallel race through the middle miles. Dengler held a slight edge at the 5K-to-10K segment, while Kaye was the steadier presence in the women's field rankings through the second half. The 1:43 gap between them at the line reflects real separation — Dengler ran the stronger final stretch to secure 2nd.

Maureen Scullin's 4th-place finish (2:19:56, 10:40/mi) was one of the quiet stories of the morning. She was deep in the women's field through the early miles but posted the 717th-fastest women's split on the 10K-to-12.6-mile segment and finished 1,066th among women — a climb of nearly 900 places from her early ranking. Connie Ostrowski (5th, 2:21:02) ran a contrasting race, starting stronger but fading slightly in the second half, finishing just 66 seconds behind Scullin. Christine King (6th, 2:28:31) and Karen Hoff (7th, 2:34:14) rounded out the top seven, with the remaining 15 finishers spread across a wide range of times down to Teresa Hensley's 3:29:12 in 20th — all of them earning their finish on a legitimately tough weather day.