Run the Parkway Half Marathon: Barbara Rinker Rules the F75-79 Field

• Barbara Rinker, 79, wins the F75-79 age group in 2:36:32 — an 11:56/mi average across 13.1 miles in 74°F heat.
• Rinker climbed 10 spots among women over the course of the race, moving from 79th to 69th in the women's field by the finish.
• Ursula Uhlir, 76, finishes 2nd in 2:50:35 — a 13:01/mi average — closing with the 86th-fastest women's split on the Mile 10-to-Finish stretch.
• Rinker's late surge was the difference: her Mile 10-to-Finish split ranked 66th among all women, meaningfully faster than Uhlir's on that same closing stretch.

Two women in their mid-to-late 70s took on a warm November morning in Folsom — 74°F with humidity nudging 60% — and both delivered a full 13.1 miles. In a field where most runners were decades younger, that alone is worth noting.

Barbara Rinker, 79 years old, was the clear force in the F75-79 age group. She crossed in 2:36:32 at an 11:56/mi clip, and the race only got better for her as it went on. She entered the final miles ranked 74th among women and finished 69th, picking off five more competitors on the Mile 10-to-Finish stretch with the 66th-fastest closing split in the entire women's field. That's not a survival jog to the tape — that's a genuine finish.

Ursula Uhlir, 76, had her own steady afternoon. She moved from 101st to 93rd among women across the race — eight places gained — and posted a 13:01/mi average on her way to 2:50:35. The 14-minute gap to Rinker was the story of the age group, but Uhlir's own forward momentum through the field was real and earned.

Together, Rinker and Uhlir were the entirety of the F75-79 field, and they gave it everything. Rinker takes the win; both finish with something to be proud of.