Women's 46K: Toni Mccann Surges to the Summit and Never Looks Back

• Mccann wins in 4:52:34 (10:14/mi), posting the fastest women's split on the Siberia 1→High Camp 1 climb to seize the lead and hold it all the way home.
• Rhodes runs a controlled second, finishing in 5:07:19 — 14:45 back — with the second-fastest Siberia 1→High Camp 1 split; Basham rounds out the podium in 5:16:05.
• Guhl's mid-race explosion: starting 18th among women, she rocketed to 1st on the Snow King 1→Siberia 1 segment — the fastest women's split there — before settling back through the field to finish 5th in 5:23:17.
• Allison's patient climb: entering the race 11th, she steadily picked off competitors to land 4th in 5:21:16, posting the second-fastest women's split on the High Camp 1→Village segment on the way down.

Toni Mccann, racing out of Passy, France, came to Palisades Tahoe and delivered a performance that was decisive from the moment the course tilted upward. She tracked in 3rd early, moved to 2nd, then hit the Siberia 1→High Camp 1 climb with the fastest split among all women — and that was the race. From that point forward she never relinquished the lead, crossing in 4:52:34 at 10:14 per mile across a course that tops out near 8,800 feet. In cool, damp conditions — 50°F with light rain and a 10 mph wind — the thin air at elevation made every push on those upper ridges a genuine test, and Mccann answered it emphatically.

Klaire Rhodes, 26, from Anchorage, ran a disciplined race throughout, sitting 2nd or 3rd at every checkpoint and matching Mccann with the second-fastest split on that same brutal Siberia 1→High Camp 1 stretch. She couldn't close the 14-minute-plus gap but never cracked, finishing a clear second in 5:07:19. Amanda Basham (5:16:05) earned third with the second-fastest women's split on the Siberia 2→High Camp 2 segment, demonstrating she had legs left deep into the race.

The subplot of the day belonged to Sarah Guhl. Starting 18th, she unleashed the fastest women's split on Snow King 1→Siberia 1 and briefly hit the overall women's lead — a stunning mid-race surge. The effort cost her on the back half, and she slipped to 5th by the finish in 5:23:17, but the move was the most dramatic of any athlete in the women's field. Lindsay Allison told a quieter story: 11th early, she threaded her way through the field with the second-fastest women's descent split on High Camp 1→Village, landing 4th in 5:21:16 — just two minutes ahead of Guhl at the line.