Masters Women at Badwater Salton Sea: Cape Fear Bandits Dominate from Sea Level to Summit

• Cape Fear Bandits (Erika Small) claimed the Masters Women title in 17:34:30 — a 13:01/mi pace across 81 miles and more than 9,000 feet of gain, leading wire-to-wire from the first checkpoint to Palomar Mountain.
• It's Literally Kaylee and Star (Starshine Blackford) ran the fastest Masters Women's split on the 50M→68M segment, climbing from 4th to 2nd by mile 35 and holding that position to the finish in 19:12:53.
• The Blonde Bombshells (Stacy Butler & Pamela Chapman-Markle) posted the fastest Masters Women's split on the 68M→Finish stretch, securing 3rd place in 24:43:30 — a remarkable finish for a team whose oldest member is 69.
• Six teams finished within 28 minutes of each other between 3rd and 6th place, turning the back half of the race into a genuine battle through the final miles.

Cape Fear Bandits (Erika Small, 52, Oak Park, CA) never relinquished a step of the lead, holding the top spot in the women's field at every single checkpoint on the way from Salton City — 234 feet below sea level — up to the 5,500-foot summit of Palomar Mountain. Their fastest Masters Women's split on the 14M→35M segment underscored that this was an aggressive, front-loaded effort sustained across all 17 hours and 34 minutes. Second place was never close to threatening.

It's Literally Kaylee and Star (Starshine Blackford, 49, Columbus, OH) ran a patient, calculated race — sitting 4th through the early miles before making a decisive move. By the 50M→68M segment, where they posted the fastest Masters Women's split, they had locked up 2nd place in 19:12:53. That's a gap of nearly 1:38 to the winner, and a comfortable 4:39 cushion over the teams scrapping behind them.

Those teams scrapping behind them made for the race's most dramatic chapter. Chasing Who (Elizabeth Perez, 60) was the most volatile mover in the field — swinging between 4th and 17th at various checkpoints before surging to 4th place at the finish in 24:36:12 on the strength of the 4th-fastest Masters Women's split on the 50M→68M segment. The Blonde Bombshells (Butler & Chapman-Markle) countered with the fastest Masters Women's split on the 68M→Finish leg, arriving in 24:43:30 to take 3rd. Wild Winter Women (Heather Krauel, Janelle Gomez & Jessica Roschlan) crossed together in 24:47:37, and Cactus Queens (Alyssia Stevenson & Judy Jin) matched each other stride for stride to finish in 24:50:08 — four teams separated by just 14 minutes across the final stretch.

Your Pace or Mine? (Bethany Cazenave, Dalisia Coppersmith & Sandee McKinnon) closed out the Masters Women field in 26:52:00, completing the full 81-mile traverse as a trio to round out 16 finishers in one of the more demanding team formats in endurance sport.