F40-44: Pabalan Pulls Away for a Dominant San Francisco 5K Win

• Princesa Pabalan won the F40-44 race in 24:37 (7:55/mi), nearly a full minute clear of the field.
• Corrie Paonessa ran 25:36 (8:14/mi) to claim 2nd, with Vinela Bakllamaja completing the podium in 26:58 (8:41/mi).
• Places 5 and 6 came down to a razor-thin finish: Krisztina Lazar and Aisling Blake both clocked 28:07 — same displayed time, different places, separated by the finest of margins.
• 80 women finished in the F40-44 field, with the top 20 spanning just over ten minutes from front to back.

Princesa Pabalan of Brisbane, CA, made the F40-44 race her own from the gun. Her 24:37 finish at 7:55/mi was a full 59 seconds ahead of 2nd place — a margin that speaks to a controlled, confident effort through San Francisco's cool, overcast morning. At 41, she was among the younger athletes on the podium, but the gap she opened told the real story.

Corrie Paonessa (44) was the closest challenger, crossing in 25:36 at 8:14/mi — a meaningfully quicker pace than the rest of the podium. Vinela Bakllamaja of San Francisco rounded out the top three in 26:58 (8:41/mi), holding off Andrea Casson (27:50, 8:58/mi) who made the trip from Denver, CO, to land 4th.

The race's most dramatic moment came at the back end of the top five. Krisztina Lazar of Vallejo and Aisling Blake of Burlingame were inseparable at the finish line — both credited with 28:07 at 9:03/mi, with the timing system's finer resolution required to split them into 5th and 6th. That's as close as it gets without sharing a place.

Further back, the field spread steadily through the 57°F fog, with Kelli Nims (7th, 29:27), Gina Escobar (8th, 29:50), and Susan Morey (9th, 30:21) filling out the top ten before Laysan Andrews of Redwood City closed it at 30:36 in 10th. All told, 80 women finished the F40-44 race — a strong showing on the streets of San Francisco.