F25-29 at Peachtree: Gebreselama Storms Through the Field to Take the Title

• Tsigie Gebreselama, 31:01 (4:59/mi): charged from 18th among women at the opening mile all the way to 1st by the finish, posting the fastest women's split on the final 5M→Finish stretch.
• Podium gap: Bekelech Gudeta's 32:41 put her 1:40 back in 2nd, with Rebecca Mwangi just 11 seconds further at 32:52 in 3rd — the tightest battle of the day.
• Middle miles: Gudeta (7th-fastest women's split on 2M→3M) and Mwangi (9th-fastest) both surged through that segment, but Gebreselama's closing run rendered it moot.
• Deep field: 2,900 women finished in F25-29, making this one of the largest and most competitive groups on the course.

On a warm, humid Fourth of July morning in Atlanta — 75°F and 68% humidity before the sun could do its worst — Tsigie Gebreselama put on a masterclass in patient aggression. She sat 18th among women through the first mile, then began picking off rivals one by one: 11th by mile two, climbing to 6th, then 2nd, and finally seizing the lead for good over the final stretch. Her 4:59/mi average tells the story in numbers, but it was that blistering 5M-to-finish leg — the fastest women's split on the entire closing segment — that truly broke the race open.

Behind her, Bekelech Gudeta and Rebecca Mwangi fought a compelling battle for the podium. Both women made their moves through the 2M→3M segment, with Gudeta's 7th-fastest women's split there edging Mwangi's 9th-fastest, yet the two finished just 11 seconds apart — Gudeta at 32:41, Mwangi at 32:52. Katie Izzo rounded out the top four at 33:08 (5:20/mi), having moved in the opposite direction through the middle miles, slipping from 10th among women to 16th before holding firm to the line.

Jessica Gockley Day (34:17, 5:31/mi) and Amanda Martin (34:31, 5:33/mi) secured 5th and 6th, while Grace Clements of Buchanan, GA, brought home 7th at 35:08 to lead the local contingent. In a field of 2,900, Gebreselama's wire-to-wire surge from the back of the lead pack to the top step is the defining image of this race.