F75-79: Barbara Rinker Wins It at 79

• Barbara Rinker took the F75-79 title in 2:44:44 (12:34/mi), finishing more than 17 minutes clear of the field.
• Dilyn Radakovitz, also 79, claimed second in 3:01:53 (13:53/mi) — a notably steadier early race than Rinker's.
• Mary Hays, 77, rounded out all three F75-79 finishers in 3:53:42 (17:50/mi), posting the strongest closing split of the trio on the Mile 11–to–finish stretch relative to her race position.
• All three women were climbing through the women's field across the second half — Rinker most aggressively, moving from 1,577th to 1,402nd among women by Mile 11.

Three women aged 77 to 79 toed the line at the Shamrock'n Half Marathon, and Barbara Rinker — at 79 years old — made the clearest statement of the morning. Her 2:44:44 finish at a 12:34/mi pace was commanding from the start, and her movement through the women's field told the story: she climbed from 1,577th among women at the first checkpoint all the way to 1,402nd by Mile 11, before a strong closing segment — the 1,308th-fastest women's split from Mile 11 to the finish — sealed the win. That's a consistent, purposeful race from front to back.

Dilyn Radakovitz, also 79 and hailing from Loomis, finished second in 3:01:53 at 13:53/mi. Her race had a different texture — she was the stronger runner through the early going, posting the 1,588th-fastest women's split from the start through Mile 11, but her position among women drifted slightly in the back half. Still, crossing in just over three hours at 79 is a performance worth its own spotlight.

Mary Hays of Loomis, 77, completed the F75-79 field in 3:53:42 at 17:50/mi. She held her position among women with remarkable consistency — barely moving from 1,870th to 1,861st across the entire race — and actually produced her stronger split in the Mile 11–to–finish stretch, the 1,798th-fastest closing split among women. On a clear, cool March morning in West Sacramento, all three women finished a half marathon. That's the real headline.