SF Marathon 10K: Santiago owns the NB45-49

• Janeth Santiago, 51:57 — sole finisher and winner of the NB45-49, running 8:22/mi through San Francisco's cool, humid morning.
• Massive improvement over 2024 — Santiago clocked 58:46 in this same race last year; Sunday's finish cuts nearly seven minutes off that mark.
• Strong closing kick — the 2nd-fastest women's split on the 4.62M-to-Finish stretch signals she was accelerating when it counted most.

The NB45-49 belonged entirely to Janeth Santiago on Sunday, and she made the most of it. The 46-year-old San Francisco local crossed in 51:57 — a performance that stands on its own merits beyond the uncontested field, because the real competition was the clock and her own history with this race.

That history tells a compelling story. Twelve months ago, Santiago finished 4th in this same race in 58:46. On Sunday, she came back and erased nearly seven minutes from that time, finishing in 51:57 at an 8:22/mi pace. That's not a minor tune-up — that's a meaningful, quantifiable leap on a course she knows well, on a damp, 57°F morning that kept conditions honest.

What makes the performance even sharper is how she finished it. Santiago posted the 2nd-fastest women's split on the 4.62-mile-to-finish stretch of the entire women's field — meaning she was running down the back half of this 10K faster than nearly every woman on the course. Whatever the early miles looked like, she was clearly building, not fading, and she held 2nd among women from start to finish. For a solo NB45-49 field, that broader women's context is the real measure of where her fitness sits — and the answer is: right near the top.