Masters Women at Bigfoot 200: Schiller Seizes the Crown in a 68-Hour Cascade Showdown

• Jessica Schiller wins in 68:33:10 (20:33/mi), edging Carrie Clendaniel by just 14 minutes and 43 seconds across 200.1 miles through the Cascades.
• Ashley Paulson led wire-to-near-wire — holding the top women's gender position through seven of eight tracked checkpoints before fading to 4th in 71:06:41.
• Carrie Clendaniel posted the fastest women's split on Chain of Lakes→Klickitat, the decisive late-race charge that brought her within striking distance of the win.
• 30 Masters Women finished a course that dishes out 44,082 feet of elevation gain; 11th-place Aneta Zeppettella, 54, crossed in 81:41:01 to anchor the top dozen.

The headline story of the Masters Women's race is one of patience rewarded. Ashley Paulson of St. George, UT, ran the race of her life through the first seven checkpoints, holding the top women's gender spot from the gun through the penultimate split — a front-running display that few 200-mile racers can sustain. But the Cascades have a way of collecting their toll late, and Paulson faded to 6th and then 7th in the women's field over the final stretch, finishing 4th among Masters Women in 71:06:41 at 21:19/mi. She did, however, claim the fastest women's split on the Blue Lake→Windy Ridge segment — a reminder of just how dominant she looked for most of the race.

While Paulson was leading, Jessica Schiller was threading a different needle entirely. The 43-year-old from Park City, UT, tracked through the middle of the women's field for much of the race — as low as 6th at one checkpoint — before steadily climbing. By the final segment, Schiller was running the 2nd-fastest women's split on Owens→Finish, moving from 5th to 3rd in the women's field and taking the Masters title in 68:33:10. Her closing pace made the difference.

Carrie Clendaniel of Port Townsend, WA ran perhaps the most dramatic arc of anyone on the day. She sat as high as 2nd in the women's field early, dropped all the way back to 12th at one checkpoint, then clawed her way back with the fastest women's split on Chain of Lakes→Klickitat. That surge carried her to 2nd among Masters Women in 68:47:53 — just 14:43 behind Schiller after more than 68 hours of racing. Heather Whitlock, 49, of Kingston, WA, completed the podium in 69:49:53, posting the 4th-fastest women's split on Elk→Road 9327 to hold off Paulson and earn 3rd. Behind the podium, Tina Ormuz — racing from Dubai at age 51 — placed 5th in 72:23:06, backed by the 3rd-fastest women's split on Quartz→Chain of Lakes, and Jennie Chisholm rounded out the top six in 72:43:19.