San Francisco Half Marathon 2023: Jing Chen Leads the F55-59 Field from Front to Finish

• Jing Chen, 55, wins F55-59 in 1:44:48 (7:60/mi), finishing 2:01 ahead of runner-up Kim Norgaard's 1:46:49.
• Kim Norgaard ran the strongest closing stretch among the top finishers, posting the 72nd-fastest women's split on the 10.9M–Finish segment to seal second place at 8:09/mi.
• Alexandra Dulchinos traveled from West Newton, MA to claim third in 1:48:08, finishing 1:19 behind Norgaard and posting the 95th-fastest women's split on the second half.
• 54 women finished in F55-59, with the top five all coming home under 1:58.

Chen controlled this race from the opening miles. Sitting 76th among all women at the first checkpoint, she steadily climbed — to 70th, then 67th, then 65th by the finish — a smooth, disciplined progression that never wavered. Her 7:60/mi average was the class of the F55-59 field, and her 67th-fastest women's split on the 5M–10.9M segment confirmed she held her pace right through the heart of the course on a cool, humid San Francisco morning.

Behind her, Norgaard ran a different kind of race. She sat 114th among women through the early miles but surged dramatically — climbing to 106th, then 86th, then 82nd by the tape. That late charge, powered by the 72nd-fastest women's closing split, was the most dynamic move in the F55-59 field. She couldn't catch Chen, but she pulled clear of Dulchinos by 1:19 to lock up second at 1:46:49.

Dulchinos held third largely through consistency, crossing in 1:48:08. The gap from third to fourth was a substantial 5:18, as Carla Cooper (1:53:26) and Lynn Garbee (1:57:11) rounded out the top five. Both Cooper and Garbee faded through the second half — Cooper slipping from 130th to 175th among women, Garbee from 136th all the way to 246th — suggesting the San Francisco hills and humidity took their toll late in the race. Kyoko Ijichi (1:57:41) finished just 30 seconds behind Garbee to claim sixth, capping a competitive top half-dozen across the F55-59 field.