San Francisco Marathon F35-39: Stephanie Hall Runs Down the Field in the Final Miles

• Stephanie Hall (Palo Alto, CA) wins F35-39 in 3:23:57 (7:47/mi), moving from 40th among women at mile 18 to 20th by the finish — a relentless late surge through the city.
• Kerry Butters closes even harder: climbing from 68th among women at the start to 28th at the finish, she takes 2nd in 3:26:52 — just 2:55 behind Hall.
• Tight cluster at 10th–13th: Kirsten George (4:02:40), Eleanor Smith (4:02:44), Rebecca Fisher (4:02:46), and Ashley Zlatinov (4:02:59) — four runners separated by just 19 seconds across those four spots.
• Amelia Lyons posts the 39th-fastest women's split on the 24 Miles→Finish stretch, rocketing from 564th among women early in the race all the way to 128th — the most dramatic overall trajectory in the F35-39 field.

Stephanie Hall owned the back half of this race. After sitting 40th among women through 18 miles, she shifted gears on the stretch to mile 24 — logging the 16th-fastest women's split on that segment — and kept pressing all the way to the tape, finishing 20th among women overall. Her 3:23:57 at 7:47/mi was a clear step above the rest of the F35-39 field, with second place nearly three minutes back.

Kerry Butters told a nearly identical story of late-race strength. Starting 68th among women, she was still 52nd at mile 5.7 and didn't crack the top 40 women until mile 18. Then she came alive, posting the 15th-fastest women's split from miles 18 to 24 — edging Hall on that very segment — to finish 2nd in F35-39 at 3:26:52. Both women ran their best racing when the course demanded the most.

Estefania Unzu Ripoll of Mutilva Alta made the opposite kind of statement, charging out as high as 33rd among women early on and posting the 58th-fastest women's split on the 2.2-to-5.7-mile segment. She faded through the second half but still held on for 3rd in 3:38:25. Fourth place went to Amelia Lyons (3:51:03), whose journey from near the back of the entire women's field to 128th among women — capped by a strong 39th-fastest women's closing split — was quietly one of the day's best individual performances.