Kaua'i Marathon F55-59: Tina Perkins Runs Down the Field

• Tina Perkins (56, Bend OR) won the F55-59 age group in 4:22:39 (10:01/mi), posting the 2nd-fastest women's split on the half-to-22.25-mile stretch — the decisive move of her race.
• Gwen Planteen (57, Langford SD) held 2nd throughout the back half, finishing 8 minutes 32 seconds behind Perkins at 4:31:11 (10:21/mi).
• Agnes Largo (55, Lihue HI) completed the podium at 5:11:59, running on home soil in Kaua'i — the only local finisher in the F55-59 group.
• A 1:24:27 gap separates 3rd from 7th, with all seven women finishing across a wide but hard-earned spread in 77°F humidity.

Tina Perkins didn't arrive at the front quietly. Her gender standing swung wildly through the first half — sitting 17th among women at the opening checkpoint before tumbling back to 121st — before she found her legs and began a relentless climb: 34th, 20th, and ultimately 18th among women at the finish. That mid-race plunge and recovery tells the real story: Perkins was struggling, then suddenly wasn't. Her 2nd-fastest women's split on the half-to-22.25-mile segment is what turned the race, and at 10:01/mi on a warm, humid Kaua'i morning, it was a performance that held up to the finish line.

Gwen Planteen ran the opposite kind of race — measured and consistent. She sat 16th among women early and barely moved, drifting only to 27th by mile 22 before recovering to 26th at the finish. No dramatic surges, no fades; just steady 10:21/mi execution good enough for a clear 2nd in the age group. Agnes Largo, representing Lihue, rounded out the podium at 5:11:59, her strongest split coming on the 6.55-mile-to-half segment where she ranked 56th among women.

Heather Beall (Cary, IL) and Lori Bartolomei (Loomis, CA) ran nearly side by side — 4th and 5th separated by just 1:34 at the finish — both clocking their best relative splits in that same early-to-mid stretch. Lisa Valaika and Padmaja Kodali closed out the seven-finisher field, with Kodali's 6:36:26 representing real determination over 26.2 miles in the Kaua'i heat.