Women's 23K: Njeru defends her crown — ten minutes faster than last year

• Joyce Muthoni Njeru wins in 2:01:18 (8:29/mi), reclaiming the title she took here in 2024 — and slicing more than ten minutes off her 2:11:52 winning time from that edition
• Florea Monica Madalina led early, then chased home 2nd in 2:02:05, just 47 seconds back
• Ascent champion Anna Gibson doubled up with 3rd in 2:03:48
• Alice Gaggi charged from 8th to 5th (2:08:26) with the 3rd-fastest women's split on the final descent

At 7,500 feet of typical elevation, in cool 57°F air, the women's race came down to a two-woman duel that flipped early and never flipped back. Madalina held the lead at the first checkpoint, but Njeru moved past by the second and controlled it the rest of the way — then slammed the door with the fastest women's split from High Camp to the finish. Madalina answered with the 2nd-fastest closing split of the women's field, but 2:02:05 wasn't enough against a defending champion running ten-plus minutes quicker than her own 2024 winning time. And Njeru's weekend was already loaded: she'd taken 2nd among the women in the 3.5K Ascent before lining up here.

Anna Gibson's double may be the story of the weekend — she won the Ascent outright among the women, then came back to take 3rd here in 2:03:48, moving from 4th to 3rd early on the strength of the 2nd-fastest women's split from KT-22 to Siberia and holding that podium spot to the line. Lauren Gregory sat 3rd at the first check, slipped to 4th, and stayed there in 2:06:04.

Behind the podium, the closing miles reshuffled everything. Alice Gaggi, 37, drifted as low as 8th before ripping the 3rd-fastest women's finish split to snatch 5th in 2:08:26, 29 seconds clear of Marie Nivet (6th, 2:08:55). Jade Belzberg — 2nd here in 2024 and 3rd in this weekend's Ascent — took 7th in 2:09:08, another impressive double. Allie McLaughlin, 4th in 2024, finished 8th in 2:09:56.

The doubling didn't stop at the front: Sydney Petersen (10th, 2:14:23, up from 7th here last year) and Lara Hamilton (11th, 2:14:30) both backed up Ascent top-10s — 4th and 9th there respectively — separated by just 7 seconds after more than two hours of racing in a 237-strong women's field.