Broken Arrow 18K NB40-49: Criscitiello Owns the Category

• Ra Criscitiello, 45, El Sobrante, CA — sole finisher in NB40-49, crossing in 3:59:25 at 21:24/mi avg across high-elevation terrain topping out near 8,820 ft.
• 3rd-fastest women's split on the Snow King→KT 22 segment — a standout stretch where she was moving better than nearly the entire women's field.
• Held 2nd among women through the early going before settling to 4th by the finish — a race that saw real position changes on the back half.

Ra Criscitiello was the only finisher in NB40-49, and she made it count. The 45-year-old from El Sobrante logged a 3:59:25 on a course that climbs and descends between 6,202 and 8,820 feet — thin air that can turn legs heavy and lungs frantic, especially when the trail pitches upward. At 21:24/mi average, these are mountain paces earned on technical skyrace terrain, not road numbers.

What makes Criscitiello's race worth a closer look is the trajectory. She ran in 2nd among women through the opening checkpoints, holding that spot through the mid-race markers before slipping to 3rd and eventually 4th by the finish. That's a story of the field compressing around her late — but she had a counterpunch ready on the Snow King→KT 22 segment, where she posted the 3rd-fastest women's split in the field. That's not a fade; that's someone who still had something to give on a key stretch even as the overall standings shifted.

Solo in her category, Criscitiello's 3:59:25 stands as the NB40-49 benchmark for the 2026 edition — a complete run of one of Tahoe's most demanding short-course mountain races.