Napa Valley 5K — F60-64: Toma Dominates on Home Turf

• Sue Toma wins in 30:15 (9:44/mi), finishing more than two minutes clear of the field in a 16-woman F60-64 race.
• Sharon Wyatt takes 2nd in 32:28, with Karen Finerman (64 years old, Huntington Beach) rounding out the podium in 33:20.
• Places 5 and 6 were decided by one second — Ronda Myhre (34:12) edging Katie Russell (34:13) in a sprint finish from opposite ends of the country (Gig Harbor, WA vs. Fargo, ND).
• Places 7 and 8 showed identical displayed times of 39:09 — Terri Tochihara-Dirks finishing ahead of Rebecca Levy by the slimmest of margins the clock could detect.

Sue Toma, racing on home ground in Napa, made this one look controlled from the start. Her 9:44/mi average was a full 43 seconds per mile faster than runner-up Sharon Wyatt's 10:27/mi pace — a gap that compounded over 3.1 miles into a 2:13 cushion at the line. For a local, on a cool March morning with a 12 mph wind and 80% humidity, that's a confident, authoritative win.

Wyatt and Finerman — at 60 and 64 respectively — separated themselves clearly from the rest of the podium, with Finerman's 33:20 holding off Sue Webster (33:44, 4th) by 24 seconds. Webster, making the trip from Charlotte, NC, had nothing left to close it. Myhre and Russell then staged the afternoon's most gripping finish, crossing just one second apart after traveling from Washington State and North Dakota respectively.

A noticeable gap opened after Russell's 34:13 before the next cluster arrived. Tochihara-Dirks and Levy both clocked 39:09 on the displayed time, but the timing system separated them — Tochihara-Dirks in 7th, Levy in 8th. Lisa Demarchi (9th, 39:14) was just five seconds back, and Mamta Mehta (10th, 40:24) and Susan Albrecht (11th, 40:25) reprised the one-second drama one place lower.

Xiuqin Zhang (12th, 43:48) closed out the competitive middle of the field, while Dani Nolan, Cheryl Thompson, Kathy Wong, and Kelley Collins — all finishing between 51:15 and 59:35 — completed the 16-woman field. Every finisher crossed the line, from Napa locals to travelers from Virginia, South Carolina, and Texas, on a brisk Napa morning worth showing up for.