Iron Face Challenge 5 Mile: Carrie Dion Owns the F70+ Field

• Solo champion: Carrie Dion, 71, of Los Gatos, CA, crossed in 2:50:21 — the only finisher in the F70+ field.
• Conditions: Race day brought 91°F heat, clear skies, and a 14 mph wind across a course ranging from 6,220 to 7,191 feet above sea level.
• Pace: Dion averaged 34:04 per mile across the five-mile Iron Face Challenge course.

There is only one way to win a race: finish it. Carrie Dion, 71, did exactly that on a brutally demanding day at Palisades Tahoe, completing the Iron Face Challenge in 2:50:21 to claim the F70+ title outright. No one else in her field even made it to the line.

The conditions were not kind. Ninety-one degrees under a clear sky, with the course climbing through elevations where the air itself offers less oxygen per breath — somewhere between 6,220 and 7,191 feet above sea level. For a 71-year-old taking on five miles of mountain terrain in that heat, simply committing to the start is a statement. Finishing it is another thing entirely.

Dion's 34:04-per-mile average reflects the genuine difficulty of this course — rugged, high-altitude terrain in scorching summer heat is not a setting where pace numbers flatter anyone. What the clock captures here is persistence and toughness over five hard miles. The F70+ field belongs to her, completely and without contest.