Two Cities Marathon 5K — F60-64: West edges Larmer in a four-second thriller

• Andrea West (61, Clovis) wins F60-64 in 34:04, averaging 10:58/mi across the 5K.
• Four seconds separated 1st from 2nd — West over Susan Larmer's 34:08 — the tightest margin in the age group.
• Leesa Tyrrell rounded out the podium in 35:50, a comfortable 1:42 clear of 4th.
• 19 women finished in F60-64, with times spanning from 34:04 to 1:18:26.

Andrea West made it close — but not too close. The 61-year-old from Clovis crossed in 34:04 at a steady 10:58/mi to claim the F60-64 title, with Susan Larmer of Fresno right on her heels in 34:08. Four seconds over 3.1 miles is about as tight as it gets without a photo finish, and Larmer's 10:59/mi pace tells you she was barely a stride behind at the line. These two ran the fastest times in the age group by a significant margin — Leesa Tyrrell's 35:50 for third was a solid run, but she finished 1:46 back of West.

From there, the field spread out considerably. Arlene Nishimura, the oldest woman on the podium at 64, ran 38:02 for fourth, and Karen Prudek and Angelica Osmer filled fifth and sixth in 40:58 and 41:27 respectively. A notable gap then opened before Huiwen Hao (49:38) and Sheila Foster (50:46) led the back half of the field home.

One small subplot worth noting: Michele Schneider and Karen Cook finished 11th and 12th in 55:46 and 55:47 — one second apart after more than 50 minutes of racing. At the very back, Yolanda Dean (1:18:19) and Kim Cunningham (1:18:26) were separated by just seven seconds, a reminder that close finishes weren't limited to the front of the F60-64 field. All 19 women finished on a warm November morning in Fresno, and that's worth something too.