F40-44 Ascent: Bruce Dominates at Altitude

• Stephanie Bruce wins F40-44 in 47:55 (13:17/mi avg), posting the 5th-fastest women's split on the KT 22→Finish segment.
• A 13-minute gap separates Bruce from Rachael Cuellar (1:01:07), with Nicole Lemanski a further 30 minutes back at 1:31:49.
• Three finishers completed the F40-44 field on a course climbing through thin air between 6,257 and 8,845 feet.

Stephanie Bruce made the F40-44 race her own from the jump. Holding 3rd among the women throughout, she crossed in 47:55 — a pace of 13:17 per mile across terrain that tops out near 8,845 feet above sea level. For context, Bruce is based in Flagstaff, Arizona, itself a high-altitude training hub, so the thin air here may have been more familiar territory than it was for rivals traveling from lower elevations. Whatever the case, the result was emphatic.

The KT 22→Finish stretch told a complementary story. Bruce's split there ranked 5th-fastest among all women on that segment — not just fastest in F40-44, but genuinely elite across the entire women's field. That kind of finishing speed at altitude, after the work already banked on the ascent, is the mark of someone who ran the race with real control.

Rachael Cuellar of Albuquerque held her own in 1:01:07 (16:56/mi), moving from 30th to 29th among the women on that final segment and securing a solid second in F40-44. Nicole Lemanski, making the trip from Latham, NY, rounded out the field in 1:31:49. With only three finishers, every place mattered — and all three got it done on a demanding course under warm, overcast skies.