Run the Parkway 20 Miler: Murakami leads the F65-69 charge through Folsom heat

• Joanie Murakami won the F65-69 age group in 3:28:37 (10:26/mi), finishing more than five minutes clear of the field.
• Lynda Huppert was the closest challenger, crossing in 3:33:42 — a 5:05 gap back to Murakami, but a full 19:56 ahead of third.
• Sharon Barrick posted the 3rd-fastest Mile 15.6→Mile 16 split among all women in the race, the standout segment performance of the age group.
• Avril Harcourt dropped steadily through the women's field across checkpoints, fading from 183rd among women at the start to 228th by the finish.

With temperatures sitting at 74°F and humidity near 60%, Folsom was no easy venue for a 20-miler, and Joanie Murakami handled it better than anyone in the F65-69 group. Running 10:26/mi, she steadily climbed through the women's field — moving from 154th among women at the first checkpoint all the way to 119th by the finish — a gain of 35 places across the race. That kind of sustained forward momentum tells the story of a well-executed effort, not a lucky start.

Lynda Huppert ran her own disciplined race, finishing 2nd in F65-69 at 3:33:42 (10:41/mi). She also moved up through the women's field over the course of the day, going from 146th to 132nd among women. The gap to Murakami was a clear five minutes, but Huppert had a firm hold on second — nearly 20 minutes ahead of Mary Hennessy, who crossed 3rd in 3:53:38 (11:41/mi).

The late-race subplot belonged to Sharon Barrick. Running to a 4:06:06 finish for 4th in the age group, Barrick quietly put together the 3rd-fastest Mile 15.6→Mile 16 split among all women in the race — a remarkable burst that went largely unnoticed in the standings but stands as the most electric single-segment performance in this group. Avril Harcourt (5th, 4:08:57) and Julie Hershberger (6th, 4:17:43) rounded out six finishers who all covered 20 miles on a warm November morning in Folsom — no small feat at any age.