Two Cities Marathon 5K — F35-39: Kirk edges Curiel in a five-second thriller

• Kelly Kirk (age 39, Chowchilla) won the F35-39 age group in 26:00 at an 8:22/mi pace, holding off Yokie Curiel by just five seconds.
• The top three finished within 36 seconds of each other — then a gap of nearly three minutes opened before 4th place.
• Bailey Balbach (age 35, Sanger) rounded out the podium in 26:36, running 8:34/mi to complete a tightly bunched front pack.
• 61 women finished in F35-39, with the top 20 ranging from 26:00 to 38:28 — a spread of over 12 minutes across the listed field.

The F35-39 race at the Two Cities Marathon 5K came down to a genuine battle at the front. Kelly Kirk, 39, from Chowchilla crossed in 26:00 at 8:22/mi to claim the age-group win, but Yokie Curiel of Fresno made her work every step of the way — finishing just five seconds back in 26:05. Five seconds over 3.1 miles is razor-thin, and Curiel's 8:24/mi pace tells you she was right there to the end.

Bailey Balbach (35, Sanger) ran 26:36 to take third, keeping the top three within 36 seconds of one another. After that, the race fractured sharply. Yolanda Jacuinde Lujano in 4th and Rebecca Mayo in 5th came in at 29:27 and 29:38 respectively — nearly three full minutes behind Balbach — marking a clear break between the podium group and the rest of the field.

From 6th through 20th, the pace ranged from Michele Martinez's 9:51/mi to Ashley Hanson's 12:23/mi, reflecting the broad range of competitors who turned out across the 61-woman F35-39 field. With warm Fresno conditions — 74°F and clear skies — anyone running under 27 minutes deserves particular credit for the effort. Kirk, Curiel, and Balbach all did exactly that, delivering the sharpest front-end battle of the morning in this age group.