Women's 25-Miler: Olsen Leads Wire-to-Wire in Auburn Heat

• Anna Olsen wins in 4:44:26 (11:23/mi), holding 1st among the women from the first checkpoint to the last — and posting the fastest women's split on the Granite Bay→Rattlesnake Bar segment to seal it.
• Carolyn Perrotti Lake makes the day's biggest move: 9th among women at the first check, she climbed to 4th by the finish (5:17:44), powered by the 2nd-fastest women's split on the second half.
• Kim Kortz, 61, finishes 5th in 5:22:42 — a notable turnaround from her 7th-place finish here in 2025 (5:00:16), though today's warm, clear conditions at 73°F added time across the board.
• Theresa Andrews and Karina Grabis finish 15th and 16th in 6:32:40 and 6:32:47 respectively — seven seconds apart after 25 miles.

Anna Olsen ran a controlled, authoritative race. She sat at the front of the women's field from the opening miles and never relinquished it, crossing in 4:44:26 at 11:23/mi. Her dominance wasn't just about place — she also owned the fastest women's split on the Granite Bay→Rattlesnake Bar leg, the stretch where races on this course can crack open. Jen Cornelison gave chase the entire way, posting the 2nd-fastest split on that same segment and finishing 2nd in 5:02:58 — a strong effort, but Olsen had 18-plus minutes in hand. Chantra Siggard (34, Lincoln) rounded out the podium in 5:15:37, steady throughout and 4th-fastest among women on Granite Bay→Rattlesnake Bar.

The most dynamic story behind the podium belonged to Carolyn Perrotti Lake of Auburn. Starting the day buried in 9th, she worked her way methodically through the field — 5th at the penultimate check, then a locked-in 4th by the finish. Her 2nd-fastest women's split on the second half explains exactly how she did it: she ran the back end of this course faster than almost anyone in the field. She finished in 5:17:44, just two minutes and seven seconds behind Siggard.

Kim Kortz, 61 years old out of Folsom, deserves her own paragraph. She placed 5th in 5:22:42 and posted the 5th-fastest women's split on Granite Bay→Rattlesnake Bar — competing well into the teeth of a field that skews decades younger. She also moved up through the race, sitting 4th at one checkpoint before settling into 5th. Michelle Petrillo (59, Sacramento) and Beckie Newell (55, Petaluma) followed in 6th and 7th at 5:31:35 and 5:40:27, rounding out a podium-to-midfield stretch that featured four women aged 55 or older finishing inside the top seven.