F50-59 at Jed Smith Ultra Classic 30K: Larose Leads Wire to Wire

• Virginia Larose won the F50-59 age group in 3:22:34 (10:52/mi), holding 5th among all women from start to finish.
• Alicia Rodriguez finished 2nd in F50-59 in 3:52:21 (12:28/mi), with the 6th-fastest women's split on the Out & Back segment.
• Larose posted the 4th-fastest women's split on both Lap 1 and Lap 2, sustaining her pace deep into the race.
• The gap between the two F50-59 finishers was 29 minutes and 47 seconds.

In a foggy, humid Sacramento morning — 93% humidity and 50°F — two women in their 50s went the distance at Jed Smith's 30K, and Virginia Larose made it look controlled from the very first step. The 53-year-old from Sparks, NV locked into 5th place among all women and never budged, running a steady 10:52/mi to cross in 3:22:34. That kind of positional consistency across all four checkpoints isn't luck — it's execution.

What makes Larose's performance particularly sharp is where she was doing damage on the course. She posted the 4th-fastest women's split on both Lap 1 and Lap 2, meaning she was still moving with genuine authority in the back half of the race. The thick fog and heavy air didn't seem to slow her down one bit.

Alicia Rodriguez, 56, of Galt, CA, earned 2nd in the F50-59 age group with a finish of 3:52:21 — a 12:28/mi average across the full 30K. She showed her own strength early, recording the 6th-fastest women's split on the Out & Back segment, and held 6th among all women throughout every checkpoint. In a two-person field, there's no hiding — Rodriguez ran the whole race in the open and delivered a complete effort.

Twenty-nine minutes and 47 seconds separated them at the line, a gap that reflects two different paces across 18.6 miles of Sacramento fog — but both women finished, both held their positions in the broader women's field, and both can claim a podium in their age group on a damp January morning.