F30-39 Marathon: Shamonda Holds Off Ramirez in a Two-Minute Battle

• Oluwakemi Shamonda won the F30-39 age group in 3:53:01 (8:54/mi), posting the 3rd-fastest women's split on the Out & Back→Lap 1 segment to build her lead early.
• Rosanne Ramirez finished 2nd in 3:55:55 — just 2:54 back — rallying with the 3rd-fastest women's split on Lap 3→Lap 4 to close but not quite catch.
• Jeanette Rowe rounded out the top three in 4:13:21, herself logging the 3rd-fastest women's split on Lap 1→Lap 2.

Oluwakemi Shamonda, 38, came out swinging in Sacramento's damp, foggy morning air. She moved up to 3rd among the women on the very first segment and locked in that position for the remainder of the race, never relinquishing it. Her 3rd-fastest women's split on the Out & Back→Lap 1 leg set the tone — a controlled, confident 8:54/mi average that held up across all 26.2 miles to deliver her the F30-39 title in 3:53:01.

Rosanne Ramirez, 36, had a bumpier journey. She slipped back to 5th among the women after the opening segment and spent much of the race working to recover ground. Her answer came on Lap 3→Lap 4, where she posted the 3rd-fastest women's split in the field on that stretch, clawing her way back to 4th among women by the finish. That late surge brought her home in 3:55:55 — a strong effort, but the deficit to Shamonda had been built too early to fully erase. Jeanette Rowe, also 36, took 3rd in the age group at 4:13:21, her best moment coming on Lap 1→Lap 2 where she too posted the 3rd-fastest women's split in the field.

Nicole Arruda, 32, and Alena Hansen, 35, completed the five-woman F30-39 field in 7:07:13 and 7:49:52 respectively — paces of 16:18/mi and 17:56/mi that speak to a very different kind of endurance challenge on the same foggy Sacramento course. Arruda produced the 11th-fastest women's split on Lap 3→Lap 4, and Hansen the 12th-fastest on Lap 2→Lap 3, each finding their best gear at different moments in the back half.