F35-39: Achudi takes San Francisco's hills in 24:06

• Lendsey Achudi won the F35-39 field in 24:06 (7:45/mi), finishing 21st among women at the halfway mark before closing 26th — holding her lead despite a slight fade on the back half.
• Daphne Van Den Akkerveken posted the strongest second-half surge in the top five, climbing from 38th to 33rd among women on the 2.5K→Finish split (29th-fastest among women on that segment) to lock up 3rd place in 24:56.
• Mindy Day ran the opposite arc — sitting 33rd among women at the midpoint before slipping to 40th by the finish — yet still held 4th in 25:13, just 17 seconds clear of Dvora Kasdan's 25:41.
• The F35-39 field stretched 138 finishers deep, with the top 20 listed above ranging from Achudi's 24:06 down to Zoe Schladow's 29:50 (9:36/mi).

Lendsey Achudi of Mission Viejo crossed in 24:06 at a 7:45/mi clip to claim the F35-39 title on a breezy San Francisco morning — 17 mph winds and 60°F air that rewarded anyone willing to push through the back half. Achudi's win was never in serious danger: runner-up Rachel Marsiglio of Chicago finished in 24:43, a 37-second gap that left little drama at the top.

The real action in the top five was a tale of two second halves. Van Den Akkerveken, representing Breda, was the one making up ground — she entered the 2.5K checkpoint 38th among women and surged to 33rd by the finish, posting the 29th-fastest women's split on that closing segment. Marsiglio (36th-fastest women's split on the back half) held her position more steadily. Meanwhile, Day faded from 33rd to 40th among women over that same stretch, while Kasdan actually gained a spot — moving from 45th to 42nd — to close within 28 seconds of Day and secure 5th in 25:41.

Megan McClarty of Los Gatos rounded out the top six in 26:02, before a notable gap opened to Lauren Martzall's 27:18 in 7th. From there, Luyun Qi (27:23) and Diane Kim (27:25) ran nearly inseparable races — their finish times separated by just two seconds — to claim 8th and 9th. Jessica Galeste of Oakland, the field's oldest top-11 finisher at 39, crossed in 27:56 for 11th, showing that the back end of the age range had plenty left to say.