Two Cities Marathon 5K — F50-54: Cervantes Runs Away With It

• Kathy Cervantes won the F50-54 group in 26:26 (8:30/mi), finishing 1:11 ahead of runner-up Mayra Mendoza.
• The podium was separated by just 2:40 — Cervantes (26:26), Mendoza (27:37), Ribeiro (29:06).
• Jessica Carr-Poole and Flora Rojas both clocked 41:56, landing 15th and 16th respectively — the closest battle of the day in this group.
• 51 women finished in the F50-54 age group, with times ranging from 26:26 to well past the 44-minute mark.

Kathy Cervantes of Fresno set the tone from the gun. Her 8:30/mi average was a clear step above the field — Mayra Mendoza of Clovis gave chase and earned second in 27:37, but the gap was established and never seriously threatened. Tami Ribeiro of Kingsburg rounded out the podium in 29:06, holding off Erika Martinez (29:54) by 48 seconds to claim third.

Behind the top three, the race thinned into a series of individual battles. Gracie Navarro of Madera crossed fifth in 31:47, more than two minutes clear of the anonymous sixth-place finisher (33:35), with Stephanie Clemmensen (34:20) and Marie Von Wagner (35:14) filling out the top eight. The spread from fifth through eighth — nearly 3:30 — tells the story of a field racing its own race rather than chasing a pack.

The afternoon's sharpest duel came deep in the results: Jessica Carr-Poole and Flora Rojas finished in an identical 41:56, with the official timing separating them by the thinnest of margins into 15th and 16th. That kind of finish is rare in any race, and it gave the F50-54 group one of the day's more memorable moments even if it happened well off the front. With 51 finishers spread across a nearly 18-minute range, this was a broad, competitive field — and Cervantes led it wire to wire.