Napa Valley 5K — F35-39: Shideler Runs Away With It

• Kristina Shideler won in 18:07 (5:50/mi) — nearly 5½ minutes ahead of 2nd place in a 71-woman field.
• Megan Feskens (23:36) and Jessica Vargas (23:43) battled for the podium, separated by just 7 seconds.
• Mallory Homewood (4th, 25:05) and Alyssa Wristen (5th, 25:44) ran a tight race of their own, with just 39 seconds between them.
• The top 20 spanned from 18:07 to 32:52 — a vivid range of effort across a 71-woman field on a cool, breezy Napa morning.

Kristina Shideler, 38, from Santa Rosa, made this race her own from the start. Her 5:50/mi average wasn't just fast — it was a different race entirely from the rest of the F35-39 field. By the time she crossed the line, the next finisher was still more than a mile of racing behind her. In a 5K, that kind of margin is emphatic.

The real drama unfolded behind her. Megan Feskens, 35, from Meridian, ID, held off Jessica Vargas, 36, of Cave Creek, AZ, by just 7 seconds — 23:36 to 23:43 — to claim 2nd. Feskens ran a 7:36/mi pace to Vargas's 7:38/mi, a slim but genuine edge across the 3.1-mile course. Both women put real distance on 4th-place Mallory Homewood (Sacramento, CA), who finished in 25:05 at 8:04/mi.

Homewood in turn fended off Alyssa Wristen, 36, of Dixon, CA, who came home 5th in 25:44. Mika Peterman, 38, of Woodside, CA rounded out the top six in 26:27, crossing at 8:31/mi. From there, a cluster of runners filed in through the late 20s and early 30s of minutes, with Sandy Llavore (7th, 29:21) through Marisol Gutierrez (20th, 32:52) navigating the 48-degree, breezy Napa conditions across a competitive 71-woman field.