Date: Oct. 5, 2025 Participant: Lily Esch #20477 Race: 2025 Portland Half Marathon Distance: 13.1 miles

Consistent Improvement and Strong Finish Lily Esch finished the 2025 Portland Marathon's Half Marathon with an elapsed time of 2:03:59 and an average pace of 9:27 min/mile. Her performance showed progressive improvements and a consistent pace, noticeable in her negative splits. Most notably, during the last mile, she achieved her fastest split with a pace of 8:40 min/mile, which is impressive. She finished 1828th overall out of 5623 participants, ranking 642nd among females and 153rd in her age division (F25-29). Comparing to last year's performance in the 2024 Portland Marathon, where she clocked 2:05:40 with a pace of 9:35 min/mile, Lily showed a marked improvement both in time and pace. Her overall pace improved by 8 seconds per mile, which reflects significant progress. Lily's ability to maintain and even quicken her pace over the final miles contributed to her success, and focusing on such strong finishing skills should remain a priority in her training.