F60-64 Marathon: Carnahan cruises to a commanding win in Fresno heat

• Karen Carnahan won the F60-64 group in 3:42:12 (8:28/mi), finishing 22nd among women overall and posting the 17th-fastest women's split on the final 25.2M-to-finish stretch.
• Runner-up Anonymous Participant clocked 4:02:55 — a gap of just over 20 minutes back, but with the 2nd-fastest closing split in the group.
• Carmen Hurstrom earned 3rd in 4:37:44, buoyed by the 51st-fastest women's split on the opening 1M–10K segment — her strongest moment of the day.
• Five women finished the F60-64 group, separated by a span of 1:24:43 from first to fifth.

Karen Carnahan was never in doubt. Starting 48th among women, she spent the entire race climbing — methodically picking off competitors through every checkpoint, reaching 26th among women by mile 25 and ultimately finishing 22nd. At 8:28 per mile on a warm 74°F November morning in Fresno, that's a controlled, confident performance from start to finish. Her 17th-fastest women's closing split confirmed she had plenty left — she didn't just hold on, she finished strong.

The battle for second was less dramatic in terms of position but impressive in its own right. The anonymous runner-up also ran a steady, progressive race — climbing from 126th among women at the first checkpoint all the way to 46th by the finish, and matching Carnahan with a sharp closing split (27th-fastest among women on that final stretch). She crossed in 4:02:55, a full 9:16-per-mile average that held up well across the distance.

Carmen Hurstrom told a different story. She came out swinging — posting the 51st-fastest women's split on the opening 1M–10K segment and sitting 54th among women at the first major checkpoint. But the Fresno heat and the miles took their toll; by the back half she had slipped to 88th among women, finishing 3rd in the group in 4:37:44. It's a tale of early ambition meeting late resistance.

Susan Medrano closed out the five-woman group in 5:06:55, finishing as the hometown runner from Fresno. She was the most consistent in one sense — hovering near the same position among women throughout — and her 115th-fastest women's split on the 23M–25.2M segment showed she was still working hard deep into the race.