Napa Valley 5K: Goldstein rules the F75-79 race

• Joan Goldstein won the F75-79 race in 33:21 (10:44/mi), crossing more than four and a half minutes clear of the field.
• Martha A Muleady, 78, finished 2nd in 37:54 (12:12/mi) — the elder of the two competitors by three years.
• A gap of 4:33 separated the two finishers on a cool, humid morning in Napa.

Joan Goldstein of Bigfork, MT, made no mystery of the F75-79 race. Running a steady 10:44/mi, the 75-year-old covered the out-and-back course from the marathon finish line in 33:21 — a commanding effort that left the result settled long before the finish line came into view.

Martha A Muleady, the hometown entrant from Napa, brought local pride to the race and held her own across 3.1 miles, finishing in 37:54 at a 12:12/mi pace. At 78, she was the older of the two women on the day, and her completion of the course — organized by the Kiwanis Club of Greater Napa, with all funds returning to the local community — was a performance worth noting on its own terms.

With just two finishers in the F75-79 race, the story is simple and genuine: two women in their mid-to-late seventies showed up on a breezy, humid March morning and ran a 5K. Goldstein took the win by 4:33; Muleady earned her place. That's the whole scoreboard — and it's a good one.