San Francisco Half Marathon 2026: Sheila Leong Surges to F45-49 Victory

• Sheila Leong (Millbrae, CA) won the F45-49 race in 1:44:07 (7:57/mi), posting the 16th-fastest women's split on the 8M–9.6M stretch.
• Qi Lu (Milpitas, CA) finished 2nd in 1:44:49 — just 42 seconds back — with the 32nd-fastest women's split on that same segment.
• Lili Hui (Salt Lake City, UT) claimed 3rd in 1:51:14, more than six minutes clear of the top two but a full 1:47 ahead of 4th.
• A field of 183 finishers braved 59°F temps and a stiff 14 mph wind off the Bay.

Sheila Leong didn't seize the lead quietly. Tracking 64th among women at the opening checkpoint, she spent much of the race climbing steadily through the women's field before a decisive push through the 8M–9.6M corridor — where she ran the 16th-fastest women's split in the field — vaulted her into the top tier. By the finish she had risen to 27th among women, crossing in 1:44:07 at a 7:57/mi clip to take the F45-49 title.

Hot on her heels the whole way was Qi Lu, also 47, from Milpitas. Lu tracked a remarkably similar arc through the women's field and matched Leong's aggression on that same 8M–9.6M stretch, posting the 32nd-fastest women's split there. The difference was that Leong's surge was simply sharper — and the 42-second margin at the tape reflects who ran that critical segment faster. Lu's 1:44:49 and 35th-place finish among women is a strong result in its own right.

Lili Hui of Salt Lake City ran a patient, consistent race to claim the bronze in 1:51:14 at 8:29/mi, climbing from 155th among women at the first checkpoint all the way to 89th by the finish — one of the bigger movers in the field. Lynn Veblen (New York, NY) finished 4th in 1:53:01, and Tara Fox (Frederick, MD) rounded out the top five in 1:54:08, posting the 63rd-fastest women's split on the 10.26M–10.5M segment to hold her position late. Behind them, a competitive mid-pack stretched from Michelle Vannelli's 6th-place 1:57:18 through Sara Priddy's 10th in 2:00:20 — seven finishers packed into under four minutes of racing.