Broken Arrow 3.5K Ascent: Charlene Liebes Owns the F70+ Field

• Solo and certain: Liebes was the only F70+ finisher in the 2025 Broken Arrow Skyrace 3.5K Ascent — she entered, she climbed, she won.
• Finish time: 1:29:56 at an average pace of 41:21/mi across a course ranging from 6,298 to nearly 8,000 feet of elevation.
• Snow King to the finish: Liebes posted the 159th-fastest women's split on that final stretch, holding her position steady through to the tape.

There is exactly one name in the F70+ results from the 2025 Broken Arrow Skyrace 3.5K Ascent, and it belongs to Charlene Liebes of Lincoln, CA. At 74 years old, she took on a mountain course that climbs through thin air above 7,000 feet — where 17 mph winds and 19% humidity added their own bite to an already demanding ascent — and she crossed the finish line in 1:29:56.

In a field where she had no one to chase and no one chasing her, Liebes still had to contend with the course itself: nearly 1,700 feet of elevation gain compressed into 3.5 kilometers, with the kind of altitude that tests lungs regardless of how fit the legs are. Her 159th-place women's split on the Snow King to finish segment tells you she was moving steadily through a competitive women's field, not simply strolling to a default crown.

The F70+ title is hers — uncontested, but genuinely earned on one of the more punishing short-course skyrace formats around.