Masters Women's Half Marathon: Kastner Dominates, Reed and Bowen Battle for the Podium

• Kelley Kastner wins in 1:38:37 (7:31/mi), the 5th-fastest women's closing split from 8M to the finish — clear and commanding from wire to wire.
• Kanita Reed holds 5th among women with a 1:42:02 finish (7:47/mi), posting the 4th-fastest women's closing split to lock up 2nd in the Masters field.
• Felicia Stevens (1:45:34, 5th) arrived at the half marathon having already won the women's 5K at this same event — a remarkable double on race day.
• Sue Hamke (2:01:59, 20th) rounds out the listed finishers at age 66, the oldest athlete named in a 199-woman field.

Kelley Kastner of Saint Louis set the tone early and never let up. Holding 1st among women from the opening checkpoint through the finish line, her 7:31/mi average over 13.1 miles on a mild but breezy Huntsville morning was the clearest statement of the day. She didn't just win — she closed hard, posting the 5th-fastest women's split on the final stretch from mile 8 to the finish. That's a runner who gets stronger, not weaker.

Behind her, the battle for 2nd and 3rd in the Masters field was genuine. Kanita Reed (Hoover, AL) ran a composed 1:42:02 at 7:47/mi, sitting 5th among all women and backing it up with the 4th-fastest closing split in the women's field — a strong finisher who earned every second of that gap over the podium's third step. Linda Bowen (Birmingham, AL) crossed in 1:42:59 at 7:51/mi, but her closing split ranked 8th among women — Reed was simply the faster closer over those final miles, and the 57-second margin between them reflects it.

Fifth place belongs to one of the day's best stories: Felicia Stevens of Ashland, KY, ran 1:45:34 here after already taking the women's 5K title at this same event. That kind of double — winning one race and then turning around to compete for the Masters podium in a half marathon — deserves its own spotlight. Stevens finished 5th in the Masters field at 8:03/mi, a strong result by any measure, made extraordinary by what she'd already done earlier in the day.

The depth of the 199-woman Masters field was real. Jennifer Shope (50, Cookeville, TN) went 1:48:01 for 8th, and Catherine Schaefer (50, Wauwatosa, WI) ran 1:51:01 for 11th — both demonstrating that the 50-and-over contingent was far from a footnote. From Kastner's 7:31 opener to Hamke's steady 9:18/mi at 66, this was a field with range, grit, and genuine racing at every level.