Women's IFC: Weibel Runs Away With It at Palisades

• Amber Weibel, 48, of South Lake Tahoe, won the women's race in 1:07:15 (13:27/mi) — nearly 18 minutes clear of the field
• Sarah Malone (Superior, CO) took 2nd in 1:25:13, with Emily Ngan of Portland 3rd in 1:30:22
• The tightest battle on the podium fringe: Ngan held off Truckee's Kelly Fuson (4th, 1:31:00) by just 38 seconds
• Mid-pack squeaker: Courtney Wisniewski (13th, 2:15:56) edged Olga Camina (14th, 2:16:10) by only 14 seconds

Under a clear sky and a barely-there breeze, the women's field of 35 took on the Broken Arrow IFC course at Palisades — a track that never dips below 6,220 feet, where every climb costs a little more oxygen than it would at sea level. If the thin air bothered Amber Weibel, it didn't show. The 48-year-old from South Lake Tahoe — living on the very terrain she raced — hammered out a 13:27/mi average that no one else came close to matching, crossing in 1:07:15 for a winning margin of 17:58 over the entire rest of the field.

Behind her, the podium chase was its own race. Sarah Malone of Superior, Colorado — another athlete who knows high country — was the only other woman under 1:30, taking 2nd in 1:25:13 at 17:03/mi. The real drama came next: Emily Ngan of Portland claimed 3rd in 1:30:22, but Truckee's Kelly Fuson was just 38 seconds back in 1:31:00. That's the kind of gap that turns on one switchback.

Alisha Basham of Eugene rounded into 5th in 1:37:49, and Stephanie Sibille — who traveled all the way from Granby, Connecticut — took 6th in 1:45:23. Deeper in the field, the racing stayed honest: Courtney Wisniewski of Mammoth Lakes (13th, 2:15:56) held off Olga Camina (14th, 2:16:10) by a mere 14 seconds, and Haley Brogan (8th, 2:01:23) kept Alison Bassett (9th, 2:04:09) at bay by under three minutes.

Two age-outlier stories deserve a nod: 63-year-old Melaine Whitchelo of Davenport, Iowa took 18th in 2:36:27 on a course most flatlanders would find punishing, while 26-year-old Emma Rentzke of Fort Pierce, Florida — about as far from Tahoe altitude as American geography allows — finished 20th in 2:52:53. On a day this clean, the mountain itself was the only real weather.