Non-Binary 18K: Barsten leads every step from Palisades to the finish

• Kira Barsten (29, San Francisco) won wire-to-wire in 3:33:02 (19:03/mi), never surrendering 1st at any checkpoint and posting the fastest split in the non-binary field on KT 22→Siberia.
• Casey Wei (35, San Francisco) took 2nd in 3:41:44, climbing from 3rd mid-race and sealing it with the 2nd-fastest closing split from High Camp to the finish.
• Noah Nelson (30, Somerville, MA) charged from 4th to 3rd late, finishing in 3:49:32 on the strength of the fastest Siberia→High Camp split in the group.
• Ra Criscitiello (45, El Sobrante) sat 2nd early before slipping to 4th at 3:59:45 — despite the 3rd-fastest split on Snow King→KT 22.

On a clear 67°F day at Palisades — with the course climbing to nearly 8,820 feet, where thin air punishes every step — Kira Barsten made the non-binary race look decided from the gun. First at every checkpoint, Barsten stretched the lead with the group's fastest split on the KT 22→Siberia section and crossed in 3:33:02, a full 8:42 clear of the field.

Behind the leader, the race churned. Casey Wei started the day in 3rd but moved into 2nd by mid-race and never let go, closing with the group's 2nd-fastest split from High Camp to the line for a 3:41:44 finish. Ra Criscitiello ran the opposite arc — 2nd through the early checkpoints and 3rd-fastest on the Snow King→KT 22 stretch, but fading over the back half to 4th in 3:59:45.

The late-race mover was Noah Nelson, who traveled from near-sea-level Somerville to this high-altitude course and got stronger as it went — 4th at every split until the final push, where the fastest Siberia→High Camp effort in the group lifted them to 3rd in 3:49:32.

Tau Lucas (31, Los Angeles) also finished on the rise, climbing from 6th to 5th in 4:14:31 with the 4th-fastest Siberia→High Camp split. Joshua Strong (31, Rocklin) took 6th in 4:24:52, and Steph Salazar (31, Seattle) closed out the seven-strong non-binary field in 4:49:05 — every one of them conquering nearly 2,600 feet of elevation range in thin Tahoe air.