F30-39 Ascent: Hillary Allen Tops a Loaded Field at Palisades Tahoe

• Hillary Allen wins in 30:41 (14:07/mi), posting the 4th-fastest women's split on the Snow King→Finish segment to close out the race in style.
• Top-3 separated by just 32 seconds: Jessica Brazeau 2nd in 30:56, Janelle Lincks 3rd in 31:13 — a tight podium across a high-altitude push to 7,964 ft.
• Amanda Basham edges Rachel Mow by 0.02 seconds for 9th place, both clocking 33:18 — the narrowest margin in the F30-39 field.
• Alexa Aragon (4th, 31:23) was also racing the 23K on the weekend, finishing 9th among women there — a genuine double-race feat worth noting.

Hillary Allen, racing out of Boulder, CO, claimed the F30-39 title in 30:41 — a 14:07/mi average across a course that climbs through thin air between 6,298 and 7,964 feet. She arrived at the Snow King→Finish segment ranked 8th among women, then surged to 6th with the 4th-fastest women's split on that closing stretch. That finishing kick was the decisive move of her race.

Jessica Brazeau gave Allen her closest challenge, crossing in 30:56 to take 2nd. Brazeau brings real history to this course: she ran 48:49 here in 2024 in the women's field. Janelle Lincks rounded out the podium in 31:13, though her Snow King→Finish split — 9th-fastest among women — tells a slightly different story: she had been 6th among women at that checkpoint and slipped to 8th by the finish, meaning both Allen and Brazeau caught and passed her on the final segment. Alexa Aragon held steady in 4th at 31:23, having already raced the 23K earlier in the weekend where she placed 9th among women — a two-race weekend that deserves its own applause.

Further back, Addie Bracy (5th, 32:30) was the field's biggest mover, climbing from 19th among women at Snow King all the way to 16th by the finish with the 13th-fastest women's closing split. Hali Hafeman (6th, 32:40) also returns from 2024, when she ran 48:40 for 4th among women — a different race distance makes direct comparison tricky, but her presence on the leaderboard again speaks for itself. The race's most dramatic moment of precision came at 9th and 10th: Amanda Basham (33:18.49) and Rachel Mow (33:18.51) — two hundredths of a second apart after more than two miles of mountain running at altitude.