Broken Arrow 18K M40-49: Bigler Dominates at Altitude

• Joshua Bigler won the M40-49 race in 1:39:21 (8:53/mi), finishing more than 11 minutes clear of second-place Gabriel Monroe (1:50:30).
• Bigler posted the 3rd-fastest split on the KT 22→Siberia segment in the entire men's field — a standout stretch that helped cement his commanding lead.
• Matt McDermott climbed from 22nd to 18th in the men's field over the final leg, posting the 16th-fastest Siberia→Finish split among the men to lock up 3rd in M40-49 with a 1:56:31.
• The top 5 were spread across 22 minutes, with James Mizell (2:01:34) rounding out the top five for Carnelian Bay, racing practically on home turf.

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Joshua Bigler made this one look almost effortless. The 48-year-old from Reno crossed in 1:39:21 — an 8:53/mi average across a course that climbs and descends between 6,200 and 8,000 feet — and was never seriously threatened. He held 4th in the men's field through the opening checkpoint and settled at 5th from there, a position that belied just how thoroughly he'd broken the M40-49 field. His KT 22→Siberia split ranked 3rd among the men, a surge on one of the race's most demanding stretches that made the gap feel final long before the finish.

Gabriel Monroe (1:50:30) was steady throughout, holding 10th in the men's field at every checkpoint on his way to a clear second in M40-49. The Sacramento runner ran a controlled 9:53/mi — no dramatic swings, just consistent execution at altitude. Behind him, Matt McDermott was the day's mover: the 47-year-old from Everson, WA entered the final segment in 21st among the men and finished 18th, his 16th-fastest Siberia→Finish split among the men translating into a solid 1:56:31 and the final podium spot.

David Youmans (1:58:56) and James Mizell (2:01:34) rounded out the top five, separated by just under three minutes and both posting their best relative splits on the Snow King→KT 22 segment. With 69 finishers completing the M40-49 race across a 16.8K course at high elevation, the spread from Bigler's 1:39 to the back of the top 20 (Darren Dobson, 2:30:45) tells the full story of how unforgiving this terrain is — and how far ahead of the field Bigler truly ran.