Non-Binary 18K: Barsten leads wire-to-wire at Broken Arrow

• Kira Barsten won in 3:33:02 (19:03/mi avg), holding 1st place through every checkpoint and posting the fastest non-binary split on the KT 22→Siberia segment.
• Casey Wei ran a strong second half, climbing from 3rd to 2nd with the 2nd-fastest split on the High Camp→Finish stretch, finishing in 3:41:44 — 8 minutes 42 seconds back.
• Noah Nelson (Somerville, MA) was the fastest non-binary runner on the Siberia→High Camp segment and moved from 4th to 3rd in the closing stages, finishing in 3:49:32.
• Ra Criscitiello, at 45 the oldest finisher in the non-binary field, held 2nd through the middle of the race before fading to 4th — still posting the 3rd-fastest split on Snow King→KT 22.

Kira Barsten, 29, from San Francisco, was never threatened. She sat atop the non-binary field from the opening checkpoint to the finish line, crossing in 3:33:02 at a 19:03/mi average — a clip that demands respect on a course climbing between 6,200 and 8,820 feet, where thin air compounds every uphill. Her fastest segment badge came on KT 22→Siberia, one of the course's more demanding stretches, underlining that her lead was no accident of early pacing.

The real drama played out behind her. Ra Criscitiello ran in 2nd for the first half of the race and showed genuine speed on the Snow King→KT 22 stretch — 3rd-fastest among non-binary runners on that segment — but couldn't hold the position. Casey Wei, also out of San Francisco, was patient: sitting 3rd through the middle checkpoints, Wei turned on the jets from High Camp to the finish, posting the 2nd-fastest closing split in the field and securing 2nd place in 3:41:44. Noah Nelson mirrored that pattern, running the fastest non-binary split on Siberia→High Camp to overtake Criscitiello and claim 3rd in 3:49:32.

Tau Lucas (Los Angeles) rounded out the top five in 4:14:31, also moving up a spot in the final segment with the 4th-fastest Siberia→High Camp split. Joshua Strong and Steph Salazar completed all seven finishers, Strong in 4:24:52 and Salazar — the lone Seattle representative — in 4:49:05. A field of seven on a high-altitude skyrace is no small thing; every finisher earned it.