IZZO DOMINATES DELIGHTFUL RUN FOR WOMEN
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission.
ALBANY, N.Y. (30-May) — Katie Izzo (adidas/Golden Peaks Track Club) scored a convincing win at the 48th Delightful Run for Women 5-K on an uncharacteristically cold and windy morning here in the New York State capital. Izzo, 29, broke away from the field in Washington Park after the first mile and was never seriously challenged. She clocked 15:37 and won by 26 seconds.
“It feels really good just to kind of visualize what you want to have happen before the race,” Izzo told Race Results Weekly. “I said I was going to try to go for the win, and I’m proud that I executed on what I said I was going to do.”
On a revised course, where the long uphill at the start (and long downhill at the finish) were shortened, Izzo and veteran Stephanie Bruce (Tracksmith/Stamata) took out the pace. By the time the race flattened out in the first kilometer, Izzo, Bruce, Caroline Garrett (Hansons-Brooks), Emily Bush (Providence College), Cleo Boyd (Unattached), and Anne-Marie Given (Hansons-Brooks) were together before the left turn into Washington Park. Izzo and Bruce hit the mile at 5:15 with Boyd, Garrett, and Bush within two seconds. Given had already fallen off the pace.
Izzo, who was second at last December’s USATF Cross Country Championships, loves rolling hills, and she used her prowess to her advantage today. She accelerated on the first downhill and put some daylight between her and Bruce. Everything was going according to plan.
“I was debating going from the gun at first, but I want to practice my best race,” Izzo said. “I think that staying more settled at the beginning (and) somewhere around mile one, I would hit it if I was feeling good. It just felt like the right time to go, and I’m glad I went.”
Through the park, Izzo picked up the pace. Despite the hills, she clipped off the second mile in a tasty 4:57. Although she shot a few glances behind her, she knew the win was in the bag.
“I was just kind of focused on the lead car,” Izzo explained. “I didn’t want to go the wrong way or anything. So, it wasn’t too hard to focus. Training for longer distances has made the 5-K feel short. It’s always nice when a race is over quickly, and you feel good for it.”
Izzo did not let up, splitting the third mile in 4:55 before sprinting to the finish line adjacent to West Capitol Park. She won $3000 in prize money and said she enjoyed the atmosphere of this classic, all-women’s race founded in 1979. As she was exiting Washington Park, the back-of-the-pack runners applauded her as she went by in the opposite direction.
“It’s the best,” said Izzo. “That was my favorite part when I was coming around, and everyone was cheering. You just feel really empowered, and it puts things in perspective. We’re all out here doing something hard together.”
Bruce, 42, ran alone to the finish after Izzo pulled away. A 2:27 marathoner who revels in the grind, she kept her eyes up and made sure that Boyd, Garrett, and Bush were not gaining on her.
“I was thinking of all of the solo workouts I’ve been doing in Flagstaff,” Bruce said as she spoke about the middle section of the race. “Nobody’s going to earn your places or earn your time. You’ve just got to keep pushing.”
Bruce was a clear second in 16:03. She won the masters’ title by more than a minute and a half and earned a total of $3900 in prize money ($2500 for second overall, $1000 for the first master, and $400 for the second age-graded master). She was clearly delighted with her race and said she would return to the marathon in the fall, after skipping the distance in the spring to address some gut health issues.
“I feel like in my career I’ve done a lot of that, pushing on my own,” said Bruce, who is coming off of a 1:12:28 half-marathon in Pittsburgh on May 3. “The 5-K is just another level of that.”
There was a good battle for third, and Boyd, a Canadian who lives in Charlottesville, Va., edged Garrett by less than a second (both women were timed in 16:17). Boyd earned $2000 in prize money, and Garrett received $1500. Bush finished fifth in 16:19 (her mother Dana, 47, ran 18:56), and Given (née Blaney), clocked 16:34.
Today’s race had good depth. Based on gun time, 19 of the 1857 women who finished the race broke 18 minutes, and the top age-graded performance was the 18:59 clocked by 58-year-old Fiona Bayly of New York City (93.68%). Two 83-year-olds finished the race: Laddie Toney of Warrensburg, N.Y, who ran 39:36 (net), and Carolyn Polikarpus of Albany, who clocked 54:31.
Izzo, who said her next competition would be the 10,000m at the USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships in New York City in late July, is coached by the husband and wife duo Terrence Mahon and Jen Rhines in Flagstaff, Ariz. Rhines, a three-time Olympian, ran the Delightful race several times under its previous name, the Freihofer’s Run For Women, as both an open and masters athlete. Her best time was 15:54 in 1998. Izzo beat that mark by 17 seconds today.
“Well, I have super shoes and bicarb,” said Izzo, breaking into a laugh.
