Broken Arrow 5-Mile (IFC) F60-69: Parsons Leads Wire to Wire

• Kathleen Parsons, 68, wins in 1:36:33 — averaging 19:19/mi across a course that climbs through thin air above 6,700 feet.
• Melaine Whitchelo takes 2nd in 1:55:27 — nearly 19 minutes back, running a 23:05/mi average.
• Jan Nishikawa completes the F60-69 field in 3:30:48 — more than double Parsons' finishing time, at 42:10/mi.

Three women — ages 62, 65, and 68 — lined up at Palisades Tahoe to tackle a course that barely dips below 6,200 feet, with gusts pushing 17 mph and humidity so low (19%) that the dry air compounds every breath. At altitude, where oxygen is already at a premium, finishing this course at any pace is a genuine achievement.

Kathleen Parsons, the eldest of the three at 68, made that irrelevant. She crossed in 1:36:33 at a 19:19/mi average — a pace that reflects the technical, high-elevation nature of the IFC format — and claimed the F60-69 win outright. Melaine Whitchelo, 62, of Davenport, Iowa, held her own in 2nd, finishing 1:55:27 with a 23:05/mi average. That's a meaningful gap of nearly 19 minutes, but Whitchelo ran a composed, complete race across a course that punishes anyone who doesn't respect the terrain and the altitude.

Jan Nishikawa, 65, of Gold River, California, rounded out the field in 3:30:48 — a 42:10/mi average that tells its own story about the demands of this course when the mountain doesn't cooperate. Finishing is the standard here, and Nishikawa met it.