Masters Female Marathon: Steph Bruce Runs Away with Kaua'i

• Steph Bruce wins in 2:48:19 — a 6:25/mi average that left the rest of the Masters women's field nearly 46 minutes behind the runner-up.
• Closest battle on the podium: Jacqueline Barrientes (3:34:34), Maria Cicio (3:36:35), and Rachael Smith (3:37:45) finished 2nd through 4th within a span of just 3 minutes and 11 seconds.
• Cicio and Smith both surged the opening stretch: Cicio posted the 4th-fastest women's split from 6.55 Miles to the Half, while Smith ran the 3rd-fastest on that same segment — both clawing their way up the women's field before the halfway mark.
• Bethanne Kapansky Wright and Lisa Frasieur finished 7th (4:21:29) and 8th (4:21:30) — one second apart after 26.2 miles.

Steph Bruce, 41, from Flagstaff, Arizona, turned this into a solo time trial from the start. She held 2nd among all women through the opening miles, then moved to the front of the women's race by the halfway mark and never relinquished it, ultimately crossing in 2:48:19. Her fastest women's split on the 6.55-mile-to-Half segment was the exclamation point on a dominant first half, and she simply extended that advantage the rest of the way. In 77°F humidity on the roads of Poipu, that kind of sustained 6:25-per-mile effort is a serious performance.

Behind her, the real race was a three-way war for the podium. Rachael Smith, 47, came out of the gates fast — running the 3rd-fastest women's split on the opening stretch — and sat 3rd among all women through the early miles. Maria Cicio, 48, from Kailua Kona, was more patient, climbing from 7th among women at the first checkpoint to 4th by the finish with the 4th-fastest women's split on that same early segment. It was Jacqueline Barrientes, 41, of Honolulu, who had the last word on the course: she ran the 4th-fastest women's split on the 24.15-mile-to-finish stretch to secure 2nd in 3:34:34, with Cicio (3:36:35) and Smith (3:37:45) completing a tight podium chase.

Further back, the race delivered one of its most striking coincidences: Bethanne Kapansky Wright of Kilauea, HI and Lisa Frasieur of Yoncalla, OR finished 7th and 8th in 4:21:29 and 4:21:30 respectively — a single second separating them across 26.2 miles. Sharon Adams, 50, rounded out the top five in 4:07:28, and a deep field of 52 Masters women made it all the way to the finish line on a warm, humid Kauai morning.