Way Too Cool 50K: Paula Hamilton dominates the F60-69 field

• Paula Hamilton won the F60-69 age group in 6:17:45 (12:10/mi), finishing 31 minutes 37 seconds clear of second place.
• Sherrie Linville held second throughout, crossing in 6:49:22 — nearly 34 minutes ahead of third.
• Karen Bonnett Natraj, 68, was the oldest finisher in the group and the strongest on the ALT→HWY 49 segment, posting the 70th-fastest women's split on that stretch — besting fifth-place Amy Cliffe's 77th-fastest on the same leg.
• The back of the field was tightly bunched: just 21 minutes 6 seconds separated 4th through 6th across more than eight hours of racing.

Paula Hamilton made the F60-69 story look straightforward, but the numbers tell you just how complete her performance was. Running 12:10 per mile across a demanding 50K course in 63°F conditions, she moved through the women's field steadily — sitting 25th among women early and settling at 30th by the finish — and posted the 27th-fastest women's split on the Quarry→ALT segment, the sharpest single-segment performance in the age group. Her 6:17:45 wasn't just a win; it was a statement.

Sherrie Linville, also 60, ran a composed race of her own. She held second place in the F60-69 group from start to finish and showed real strength mid-race on the Quarry→ALT leg, recording the 32nd-fastest women's split on that segment — the second-best in the group. Her 6:49:22 kept her well clear of third-place Linda Munk, who crossed in 7:23:36 after a tougher second half that saw her slide from 42nd to 54th among women between the middle checkpoints and the finish.

The race's most compelling subplot came at the back of the group. Karen Bonnett Natraj, at 68 the oldest finisher in F60-69, was quietly impressive on the ALT→HWY 49 stretch, edging out Amy Cliffe on that segment and ultimately finishing 4th in 7:57:40. Cliffe (8:13:31) and Judi Shaffer (8:18:46) rounded out the six, separated by just over five minutes after more than eight hours on course — a tight finish that reflected how closely matched these three were across the day.