Santa Rosa Half Marathon 2025: Regulski rules the F30-39 field

• Kayla Regulski won in 1:21:46 (6:14/mi), climbing from 8th to 6th among all women with the 6th-fastest women's split on the 7M→Finish stretch.
• Top four finished within 42 seconds of each other — but the gaps shifted dramatically in the final miles as some faded and others surged.
• Samantha Barrett (2nd, 1:21:57) led the women's field at the 7-mile mark but was caught and passed; Kimberly Sanchez Dardine (3rd, 1:22:01) closed fastest of the trio, moving from 10th to 8th among women.
• Melissa Bittick (16th, 1:28:59) brought a notable double to Santa Rosa, having already claimed 3rd in the Women's 5K at this same event.

Kayla Regulski was not leading the women's race at the midway checkpoint — she was sitting 8th among women — but she ran the second half of this race like someone with a plan. Her 6:14/mi average held firm through the 7M→Finish segment, where she posted the 6th-fastest women's split in the field, moving up to 6th among all women by the tape. In a field of 350 finishers, that kind of late-race composure is what separates a winner from a contender.

The battle for the podium was a genuine chase. Samantha Barrett (1:21:57, 2nd) was running in 5th among women at seven miles and had the look of a winner — but she faded to 7th among women on that closing stretch, posting the 11th-fastest women's split on the run-in. Meanwhile, Kimberly Sanchez Dardine (1:22:01, 3rd) was back in 10th among women at the seven-mile mark and came storming through with the 8th-fastest women's closing split to snatch the final podium spot. The finish times between 2nd and 3rd — 1:21:57 and 1:22:01 — were separated by just four seconds, but the stories behind them ran in opposite directions. Amy Hoagland (4th, 1:22:28) mirrored Barrett's arc, dropping from 6th to 10th among women over the final miles.

Stephanie Tondow (5th, 1:22:55) was a study in consistency, holding 12th among women at the seven-mile checkpoint and finishing 12th among women — her 9th-fastest women's closing split quietly earning her a top-five finish. Rachael Sanchez (6th, 1:23:34) and Maureen Finn (7th, 1:24:00) rounded out the top seven, with the field spreading out steadily from there through Erin Gunther (8th, 1:25:14), Julie Perrone (9th, 1:25:23), and Alexa Lua (10th, 1:25:26). And in one of the weekend's better stories, Melissa Bittick crossed 16th in 1:28:59 having already stood on the podium in the Women's 5K — a genuine multi-race effort worth noting.