Way Too Cool 50K: Clarke dominates F20-29 with a 3:54 blitz

• Emily Clarke (24, Flagstaff) won the F20-29 age group in 3:54:33 at a 7:33/mi average — finishing 40 minutes and 45 seconds ahead of runner-up Rachel Lemcke.
• Clarke posted the fastest women's split on the Fire Station→Quarry segment, the only finisher in this group to claim a segment-best among all women.
• Rachel Lemcke moved from 6th to 4th among women on the Quarry→ALT segment (4th-fastest women's split there) to secure 2nd in the F20-29 group in 4:35:18.
• The back half of the field spread wide: Shannon Perry (6th) through Georgia Anselmo (12th) covered a span of over 74 minutes, from 5:57:15 to 7:11:24.

Emily Clarke simply ran a different race than everyone else in the F20-29 age group. Out front from the start — holding 1st among women through the first three checkpoints — she was never seriously challenged within her age group. Her 7:33/mi average over 31 miles on a course with meaningful terrain is a number that speaks for itself. The one moment where the women's standings shifted around her, she dropped to 2nd among all women between checkpoints four and five, but that was a broader women's field story; in F20-29, she was untouchable wire to wire.

Behind Clarke, Katelyn Kerins (Folsom) held a remarkably steady race, sitting 5th among women from checkpoint one through the finish to claim 3rd in the age group at 4:44:24. Lemcke's story was more dynamic — she was running 6th among women for most of the race before her strong Quarry→ALT segment pulled her up to 4th among women and into 2nd place in the age group. The 9-minute gap between Lemcke and Kerins at the finish reflects that late surge paying off.

Brandi Farrel and Megan Isom rounded out the top five, both navigating a rougher mid-race stretch — Farrel as low as 12th among women at one checkpoint, Isom sliding to 14th — before steadying to finish 4th and 5th in the age group respectively. The clear skies and mild 63°F conditions gave everyone a fair shot, making the 3:16 spread from 1st to 12th a true reflection of the range of talent in this young women's field.