F50-54 at Peachtree: Beaver Runs Down the Field in Atlanta

• Genie Beaver wins in 43:38 (7:01/mi), the fastest finish in the F50-54 field of 1,770.
• Wendy Mader surged from well back to claim 2nd in 44:30, posting the 148th-fastest women's split on the 3M→4M stretch — her strongest sustained push of the race.
• Amy Koepp held 3rd in 44:57 despite fading through the back half, having made her move early with the 208th-fastest women's split on the opening 1M→2M segment.
• Just 52 seconds separated 2nd through 5th place, making the podium chase one of the tightest battles on the morning.

---

Genie Beaver of Atlanta came to Peachtree with a plan and executed it. Starting the women's race ranked 271st among all women, she spent every mile climbing — through 202nd, 189th, 182nd, 176th — before crossing at 166th among women with a 7:01/mi average. Her 132nd-fastest women's split on the 5M→Finish stretch sealed the win with a strong close, and her 43:38 stood alone atop a field of 1,770 F50-54 finishers. On a warm, humid July 4th morning in Atlanta, that kind of sustained progression is no accident.

Behind her, the race for 2nd and 3rd told two very different stories. Wendy Mader of Marietta started deep — 357th among women — and ground her way forward all morning, logging the 148th-fastest women's split on the 3M→4M mile to crack the top 210 by the finish. Her 44:30 earned a clear 2nd place. Amy Koepp of Cumming ran the opposite race: she was already 204th among women at the first mile, ran the 208th-fastest women's split in that opening segment, and gradually ceded ground from there, finishing 222nd among women by the end. Her 44:57 held for 3rd, but Mader's chase was visibly more aggressive in the second half.

The battle from 4th through 5th was similarly tight. Liping Xu (44:57 — wait, 45:23, 7:18/mi) and Lisa Ouellette (45:31, 7:20/mi) were separated by just eight seconds, with Ouellette posting the 205th-fastest women's split on the 4M→5M leg in her push toward the line. Libby Le Tourneau rounded out the top six in 46:49, with Elizabeth Magato (47:28), Peggy Kernan (47:50), and Angie Hinkle (48:49) filling out a deep top ten across a field that stretched well past 1,770 finishers strong.