Shamrock'n 10K Girls 12-and-Under: Hailey Wood Leads the Youngsters Home

• Hailey Wood, 12, wins the F1-12 age group in 1:08:28, averaging 11:01/mi across the full 10K.
• Emelyn Bornstein, 10, finishes 2nd in 1:11:14 — just 2:46 back — at an 11:28/mi pace.
• Virginia Navarrete, 11, takes 3rd in 1:20:21, and Hazel Harper, 8, completes the group in 4th at 1:49:05 — a remarkable finish for the youngest competitor on the course.

Four girls 12 and under toed the start line at the Shamrock'n 10K, and every one of them crossed the finish. In cool, clear conditions — 56°F with a light breeze — Hailey Wood of Roseville set the pace from the start, ultimately claiming the top spot in 1:08:28 at an 11:01/mi clip. The 12-year-old held steady through the second half, posting the 333rd-fastest women's split on the back 5K among the entire women's field.

Emelyn Bornstein, just 10 years old, pushed the closest challenge, finishing 2nd in 1:11:14. Notably, Bornstein actually gained ground in the women's field over the second half — moving from 405th to 400th among all women on that 5K→finish split — running the back half at a pace that trimmed places rather than surrendered them. Wood's second-half split was faster, but Bornstein's negative momentum was a story of its own.

Virginia Navarrete, 11, rounded out the podium in 1:20:21, averaging 12:56/mi for the full distance. Then there's Hazel Harper — 8 years old, from Sacramento — who covered a full 10K and crossed the finish line in 1:49:05. At 17:33/mi, she earned every step of that finish. Completing a 10K at age 8 is no small thing, and she did it on a Saturday morning in March.