Run the Parkway 20 Miler: Dena Jansen Claims F60-64 with a Sub-3:25 Effort

• Dena Jansen wins F60-64 in 3:24:09 (10:12/mi), finishing nearly five minutes clear of the rest of the age group.
• Closest battle of the day: Xiaoqin Zhang (3:28:58) and Kathy Finney (3:29:05) — just seven seconds apart at the line, with Finney running the faster final stretch to nearly close the gap.
• Zhang's mid-race surge: her Mile 10→Mile 15.6 split ranked 106th among all women, a stretch that helped her climb from 152nd to 120th in the women's field.
• Lisa Kuligowski steadily worked her way up, moving from 218th to 177th among women across the race to finish 5th in F60-64 in 3:52:08.

Jansen controlled the F60-64 race from start to finish on a warm November morning in Folsom — 74°F and climbing made every mile feel longer than it looked. Running 10:12/mi across 20 miles, she built a lead that the field never seriously threatened, and her 89th-fastest women's split on the Mile 16→Finish stretch confirmed she still had something left when it mattered. Her winning margin of 4:49 over second place was decisive.

The real drama played out in the battle for second. Zhang and Finney ran the first half of the race in lockstep near the back of the women's field, both hovering around 130th among women through Mile 15.6. Zhang made her move in the Mile 10–15.6 stretch, posting the 106th-fastest women's split on that segment and opening a small gap. But Finney answered on the Mile 16→Finish leg — her 103rd-fastest women's split on that closing stretch was faster than Zhang's finish — and she clawed back nearly all of it. Seven seconds was all that separated them at the line, with Zhang holding on for 2nd in 3:28:58 and Finney taking 3rd in 3:29:05.

Behind them, Kaoru Furukawa Cruz held steady at 4th (3:41:57, 11:06/mi), while Kuligowski's patient race — gaining 41 spots in the women's field across 20 miles — earned her 5th in 3:52:08. Julie Hughes (6th, 4:07:46), Danya Swanson (7th, 4:11:35), and Suzanne Oyoung (8th, 4:12:30) rounded out a tough eight-woman group that finished 20 miles in the heat.