Broken Arrow 11K F70+: Liebes leads a fearless age group to the finish

• Charlene Liebes, 73, wins the F70+ age group in 2:27:37 (21:36/mi avg), finishing 2 minutes 38 seconds ahead of runner-up Nancy Nakamura.
• All three finishers gained ground on the women's field over the final Snow King→Finish segment, each moving up in the women's standings to close out the race.
• Christine Davis, 71, completed the course in 2:42:02 — 14 minutes 25 seconds back of Liebes — rounding out a three-woman F70+ group that finished every one of the 11K's demanding kilometers.

Charlene Liebes of Fairfax, CA set the pace from start to finish in the F70+ age group, crossing in 2:27:37 at an average of 21:36 per mile. That's a meaningful margin over a course that climbs and descends through Palisades Tahoe at elevations between roughly 6,200 and 7,500 feet — thin air that can quietly drain effort even on a clear, low-humidity day like race day's 78°F conditions. Liebes moved from 225th to 213th among the women on the final segment, posting the 194th-fastest women's split on Snow King→Finish, a tangible surge when it counted.

Nancy Nakamura, 70, of Saratoga, CA was the closest challenger, finishing in 2:30:15 — just 2:38 off the winning time. She, too, found another gear on the closing segment, climbing from 224th to 220th among the women with the 209th-fastest women's split on that stretch. It wasn't enough to close the gap on Liebes, but it was a composed, well-executed finish.

Christine Davis of Montgomery, IL rounded out the age group in 2:42:02, finishing 11:47 behind Nakamura and moving from 235th to 230th among the women on the final leg. At 71 and traveling from Illinois — where high-altitude racing is decidedly not a training staple — completing this course in any time is a serious achievement. Three starters, three finishers: the F70+ age group left nothing unfinished on the mountain.