Napa Valley Marathon F21-24: Iris Wu Holds On for the Win

• Iris Wu (San Jose, age 24) took the F21-24 title in 3:22:46 (7:44/mi), more than five minutes clear of the field.
• Isabella Ward (Phoenix, age 22) ran the 2nd-fastest 13.1M→20M women's split (49th in the women's field) to claim 2nd in 3:27:47, edging Kelsey Chope (3rd, 3:28:00) and Emily Zhang (4th, 3:28:15) in a tight three-way battle for the podium's lower steps.
• Ad Likin (Seattle, age 24) opened the race as high as 17th among women but faded to 61st by the finish, slipping to 5th in F21-24 in 3:29:01.
• Eight seconds separated 2nd through 4th place — three runners across a span of 28 seconds from 2nd to 5th.

Iris Wu crossed the line in 3:22:46, averaging 7:44 per mile on a cold, clear morning in Napa — 39°F at the gun, with near-calm winds. She was never really threatened for the F21-24 crown, but her path through the women's field told a more complicated story: she started the race running as high as 9th among women, then gradually settled back to 34th by the finish. Her strongest stretch came between 10K and the half, where she posted the 25th-fastest women's split on that segment — enough firepower early to build the cushion she needed.

Behind her, the race for 2nd through 5th was genuinely gripping. Kelsey Chope (San Francisco) was the aggressor early, running the 47th-fastest women's split from 10K to the half and sitting 46th among women at that point — but she faded from 50th to 58th in the women's field over the back half, and Emily Zhang was catching her. Zhang, meanwhile, was one of the great movers of the day: she started 102nd among women and climbed all the way to 59th by the finish, posting the 41st-fastest women's split from 13.1M to 20M. Isabella Ward ran a similarly strong second half — 49th-fastest women's split on that same 13.1M–20M stretch — to lock up 2nd in 3:27:47. Chope held on for 3rd in 3:28:00, Zhang took 4th in 3:28:15, and Ad Likin — who had been 17th among women through 10K — rounded out the top five in 3:29:01 after a pronounced fade over the final miles.