Broken Arrow 18K NB30-39: Chacon Owns the Category

• Sara Chacon, 39, Los Angeles — 3:22:22 — sole finisher in the NB30-39 field, crossing at an 18:06/mi average across a course that climbs and drops between 6,200 and 8,000 feet.
• Steady in the women's field — Chacon held 5th among women from the first checkpoint through the finish line, never yielding a position.
• Standout on the Snow King→KT segment — her split there ranked 5th-fastest among all women on that stretch.

Sara Chacon had the NB30-39 field entirely to herself on Friday at Palisades Tahoe, but the course didn't offer her any favors. At an average elevation around 7,100 feet — with thin air, a brisk 17 mph wind, and a bone-dry 19% humidity — the 16.8-kilometer route is a genuine test of mountain fitness regardless of how many are toeing the line alongside you. The Los Angeles-based 39-year-old answered it in 3:22:22.

What makes Chacon's run worth noting beyond the solo category win is how consistently she sat in the women's race around her. She entered the first checkpoint in 5th among women and never moved — forward or back — through every subsequent split, finishing exactly 5th in the women's field. That kind of positional stability over rugged alpine terrain speaks to a well-judged effort from start to finish.

Her sharpest moment came on the Snow King→KT segment, where she posted the 5th-fastest women's split on that stretch. On a course that punishes anyone who goes out too hard at altitude, holding pace through that section while others around her in the broader women's field faded is a real mark in the ledger. Chacon takes the NB30-39 title — and earns it on the mountain's terms.