Broken Arrow 46K Women: Lichter survives a mid-race coup

• Jennifer Lichter takes the women's win in 4:42:34 (9:53/mi), holding off Helen Mino Faukner by just 35 seconds after briefly losing the lead late
• Daniella Moreno climbs from 5th to 3rd (4:43:49), riding the fastest women's split on Siberia 2→High Camp 2 — the podium was separated by only 1:15
• Grayson Murphy rips the fastest women's split on KT 1→Siberia 1 but fades from 3rd to 5th (4:54:11)
• Amanda Basham, 3rd here in 2024, returns 15th in 5:10:31 — more than five minutes quicker than last year's 5:16:05

On a 50-degree day with light rain slicking the trails between 6,200 and 8,800 feet, the women's race came down to a duel that never let up. Jennifer Lichter of Missoula led at nearly every checkpoint, backed by the second-fastest women's split on the KT 1→Siberia 1 climb — but Truckee local Helen Mino Faukner threw the fastest women's split on Village→Snow King 2 at her and briefly snatched the lead. Lichter answered, retaking the front and closing out the win in 4:42:34. Faukner's 4:43:09 left her 35 seconds shy on home trails.

Behind them, Daniella Moreno ran the race in reverse of everyone who faded. Starting the checkpoints in 5th, the Mammoth Lakes runner worked forward methodically — 5th to 4th to 3rd — powered by the fastest women's split on Siberia 2→High Camp 2, and locked down the final podium spot in 4:43:49. Just 1:15 covered the top three after nearly five hours of racing.

Jane Maus told a similar patient story, climbing from 7th early to 4th at the line (4:51:29) with the third-fastest women's split on KT 1→Siberia 1. Grayson Murphy went the other way: the fastest woman up that first big climb sat 3rd through the middle of the race before slipping to 5th in 4:54:11 — a reminder that at this elevation, the early fireworks come with a bill.

Two 2024 podium finishers were back in a field of 48 women. Amanda Basham, 3rd last year, finished 15th in 5:10:31 — over five minutes faster than her 2024 run — a measure of how much deeper the front of this race was. Klaire Rhodes, runner-up in 2024, came home 18th in 5:12:42. Depth, not decline, defined the day.