SF Marathon 10K: Lauren Carter Takes F40-44 in a Battle of San Francisco Locals

• Lauren Carter wins in 45:20 (7:18/mi), with Junaline Gines just 16 seconds back in 45:36 — the closest finish at the top of the F40-44 field.
• Isabelle Desjardins-David made the biggest move of the final 5K, climbing from 31st to 25th among women with the 27th-fastest women's split on that stretch, finishing 3rd in 48:24.
• Carter and Gines both gained ground late, posting the 17th- and 18th-fastest women's splits respectively on the 5K-to-finish segment — a near-identical pair of closing efforts that nearly mirrored each other at the line.
• 157 women finished in F40-44, with the top 20 ranging from Carter's 45:20 down to Neha Nanda's 1:00:45.

Lauren Carter (41, San Francisco) and Junaline Gines (42, San Francisco) ran the kind of race that makes hometown crowds lean in. Carter crossed in 45:20 at a 7:18/mi clip; Gines was right there in 45:36 at 7:20/mi. Both women moved up the women's field in the back half — Carter from 21st to 18th, Gines from 20th to 19th — and their closing splits (17th and 18th fastest among women on the 5K-to-finish leg) show two athletes who ran the same race plan with nearly the same execution. What separated them at the line was 16 seconds and a finishing order, not a difference in strategy.

Third place went to Isabelle Desjardins-David (44, Brossard, QC), the lone non-Bay Area name on the podium, who made the most dramatic move of the final segment. She came through the 5K mark ranked 31st among women and finished 25th, posting the 27th-fastest women's split on that closing leg to stop the clock at 48:24 — nearly three minutes clear of 4th place. That gap to Mojdeh Pajoutan (50:47, 8:10/mi) effectively sealed the podium well before the finish line.

Behind the top three, the race spread out steadily. Pajoutan (4th, 50:47) and Monika Szpoton (5th, 51:19) both faded slightly in the back half — each dropped several spots among women between the 5K mark and the finish. Karla Robertson (6th, 53:36) through Laura Perico (10th, 55:11) formed a tight cluster separated by under two minutes across five finishers. At the back of the top 20, Khalia Harding (16th, 1:00:06) and Holly Doudiet (17th, 1:00:08) finished just two seconds apart in a field of 157 — proof that close racing wasn't limited to the front of the F40-44 pack.