Broken Arrow 18K: Tara Delloiacono-Thies Owns the F50-59 Field

• Delloiacono-Thies wins in 2:39:10 (14:14/mi), finishing 18 minutes clear of 2nd — the largest gap on the F50-59 podium.
• Birgit Johnston edges Maria Oostra for 2nd: Johnston's 2:57:20 vs. Oostra's 2:59:10 — just under two minutes separating them after nearly three hours on course at altitude.
• Oostra's massive surge: she entered the women's field 61st at Snow King, climbed to 33rd by Siberia, and held that momentum to the finish — the most dramatic move in the F50-59 group.
• 22 finishers completed the course, with finishing times ranging from 2:39:10 to beyond 5:19 — a spread that reflects the brutality of this 6,200–8,868 ft skyrace.

Tara Delloiacono-Thies, racing out of nearby Truckee, turned the F50-59 race into a solo performance from the gun. She held a steady position among the women throughout — moving between 19th and 21st in the broader women's field across all four checkpoints — and closed with the 16th-fastest women's split on the High Camp to Finish segment, suggesting she had something left when it counted most. At 14:14/mi over terrain that climbs to nearly 9,000 feet, that's a controlled, confident execution.

Behind her, the battle for 2nd and 3rd was the race's most compelling subplot. Birgit Johnston of Los Gatos ran a measured day, sitting 27th among women at Snow King and drifting back to 34th by the finish — but she held enough early pace to keep Oostra at bay. Maria Oostra's day looked very different: she was 61st among women through the first checkpoint, a position that would have suggested a mid-pack finish at best. Then she flew. By Siberia she had climbed 28 spots to 33rd, and she finished 35th among women — the biggest mover in the age group and arguably the most eye-catching performance of the day in F50-59.

The rest of the field spread across a wide range, with Terri Krische (age 59, Reno) taking 4th in 3:05:31 and Kari Chalstrom rounding out the top five in 3:21:29. Chalstrom posted the 52nd-fastest women's split on the Siberia to High Camp segment — solid climbing for a course that demands everything from its athletes at this elevation. From Michelle Estes in 6th to the final finishers pushing past five hours, every one of these 22 women earned their place on this mountain.