Women's 46K: Moreno turns last year's bronze into gold at Snow King

• Daniella Moreno (Mammoth Lakes) wins in 4:48:48 (10:06/mi), seizing the lead early with the fastest women's split from Olympic Valley East to Snow King — one year after finishing 3rd here in 2025
• Sarah Carter ran 4th nearly the whole way before surging to 2nd in 4:52:33 on the strength of the 2nd-fastest women's split on the Olympic Valley East→Snow King climb
• Robyn Lesh climbed from 12th to 5th (5:04:40) with the 3rd-fastest women's split from High Camp to the Village — a big step up from 8th here in 2025
• Amber Weibel, 48, finished 19th in 6:03:00 — days after winning the women's Iron Face Challenge at this same event

On a cool, clear 53-degree morning in Palisades, with the course topping out near 8,833 feet, Daniella Moreno delivered the decisive move of the women's race early. Sitting 3rd at the first check, the Mammoth Lakes runner ripped the fastest women's split from Olympic Valley East to Snow King, took the lead, and never surrendered it — closing in 4:48:48 at 10:06/mi. After standing 3rd on this podium in 2025, she owns the top step now.

Behind her, the podium churned. Rachel Drake led the field through the opening checkpoint and hung on the front for miles, while Kim Schreiber countered with the fastest women's split from Siberia to High Camp. But Sarah Carter, patient in 4th for most of the day, matched Moreno's aggression on the Snow King climb with the 2nd-fastest women's split there and vaulted to 2nd, finishing in 4:52:33. Drake reclaimed 3rd late (5:02:00) — her 2nd-fastest women's split from Snow King to KT proved just enough — edging Schreiber, who slipped from 3rd to 4th in the final stretch (5:03:05), only 1:05 back.

The best comeback story belonged to Robyn Lesh, who started the day 12th and picked off spots at nearly every checkpoint, sealing 5th in 5:04:40 with the 3rd-fastest women's split on the final drop from High Camp to the Village — and beating her 2025 result here by three places.

Deeper in the 168-woman field, Carmen Bango took 12th in 5:27:41, chopping more than 20 minutes off her 5:47:53 from 2024. And spare a cheer for Amber Weibel of South Lake Tahoe: fresh off winning the women's Iron Face Challenge this same weekend, she came back and ran 6:03:00 for 19th at altitude. That's a double worth remembering.