Broken Arrow 23K NB40-49: Kimball Claims the Crown at High Altitude

• Nicole Kimball, 4:41:22 — took 1st in the NB40-49 field and moved from 12th to 11th among the women by the second checkpoint, holding that position all the way to the finish.
• Sara Chacon, 5:38:43 — posted the 12th-fastest women's split on the Siberia→High Camp segment en route to 2nd in the NB40-49 field, finishing 57:21 behind Kimball.
• Chacon's return trip: she crossed this same finish line in 2024 as 3rd Non-Binary in 5:17:35 — back in 2026 and still competing on one of trail running's most demanding alpine stages.
• Conditions: 58°F and clear skies made for a pleasant morning on paper, but the course climbs to nearly 8,834 ft — thin air that doesn't care how good the weather looks.

Nicole Kimball, racing out of Burlington, VT, ran the NB40-49 field wire-to-wire at Broken Arrow's punishing 23K, finishing in 4:41:22 at a 19:41/mi average across terrain that tops out close to 8,800 feet. She moved from 12th to 11th among the women early and locked in that position through every subsequent checkpoint — a composed, consistent effort that never wavered. Her 8th-fastest women's split on the High Camp→Finish segment was a strong close on a stretch where legs and lungs are both well into the red.

Sara Chacon made the trip up from Los Angeles to tackle a course that sits well above the altitude most Southern Californians train at — and she brought genuine firepower to the Siberia→High Camp climb, posting the 12th-fastest women's split on that leg. She held 14th among the women from start to finish, crossing in 5:38:43. The 57-minute gap to Kimball reflects two very different days on the mountain, but Chacon's strength on that mid-race climb is a real number worth noting.

What makes Chacon's day richer is the backstory: she stood on this same finish line in 2024 as 3rd Non-Binary in 5:17:35, and returned in 2026 to race it again. Two editions, two finishes, same relentless terrain. That kind of commitment to a course this demanding deserves its own mention — and she earned 2nd in the NB40-49 field to show for it.