Broken Arrow Skyrace 46K Men: Hemming Dominates from Gun to Tape

• Eli Hemming won the men's race in 3:58:01 (8:20/mi), the only man to break four hours, posting the fastest split on the Olympic Valley East→Snow King segment as well.
• Noah Williams and Cole Campbell finished 2nd and 3rd in 4:09:02 and 4:09:27 — just 25 seconds apart after nearly four hours of racing across high alpine terrain.
• Chad Hall, 38, ran as high as 2nd in the men's field through the middle stages before settling into 4th at 4:17:01 — the strongest finish among the race's older competitors in the top ten.
• Koken Ogasawara (Japan) and Noam Franchi (Ecuador) rounded out the top six, bringing an international flavor to a podium otherwise dominated by Colorado and the Mountain West.

Hemming was never seriously threatened. He held 1st in the men's field from the opening checkpoint through the finish, and his 8:20/mi average across 28+ miles of high-elevation Tahoe terrain — ranging from 6,200 to nearly 8,800 feet — tells you everything about how controlled and commanding that effort was. His fastest split on the Olympic Valley East→Snow King segment underscores that he wasn't just managing a lead; he was building it.

Behind him, the real drama was the chase. Williams climbed from 8th at the first checkpoint all the way to 2nd by the midpoint and held it to the line. Campbell took a different path — starting 2nd, sliding back to 9th, then clawing back to 3rd with the fastest Village→Olympic Valley East split in the men's field. Two very different races, nearly identical finish times, and only 25 seconds separating them after more than four hours on course.

Hall's race is worth noting. He sat 2nd through the early and middle checkpoints, posted the 2nd-fastest Snow King→KT split among the men, and looked like a genuine podium threat — but the final stretch saw Williams and Campbell come through, nudging him to 4th. At 38, running 4:17 on this course is a serious result. Ogasawara, making the trip from Gunma, Japan, navigated the altitude and finished 5th at 4:22:14, while 21-year-old Franchi from Ecuador slotted in just 32 seconds behind him in 6th.