Non-Binary 23K: Eik dominates while a fierce podium battle plays out behind

• David Eik won the non-binary field in 2:34:18 (10:48/mi avg), holding 1st place wire-to-wire across every checkpoint.
• Callie Dittmar and Skyler Dalziel were separated by just 1:07 at the finish — 2nd and 3rd in 2:47:32 and 2:48:39 respectively.
• Rocky West was the field's biggest mover, climbing from 5th to 4th on the Snow King→KT 22 segment and holding that position to the line.
• Cal Calamia and Rocky West swapped 4th and 5th on the Snow King→KT 22 stretch — Calamia entered that segment in 4th and exited in 5th, never recovering the gap.

Eight athletes toed the line in the non-binary 23K at Palisades Tahoe, racing over a course that climbs and descends between 6,200 and nearly 9,000 feet — the kind of altitude that makes every uphill feel a little longer and every breath a little harder. David Eik of San Francisco made none of that look difficult. He led from the first checkpoint to the last, posting the fastest split on the KT 22→Siberia segment along the way, and crossed in 2:34:18 — more than 13 minutes clear of anyone else in the field.

Behind Eik, the real drama was a two-athlete chase for the podium's second step. Callie Dittmar of Boulder, CO held 2nd throughout and backed it up with the fastest split in the non-binary field on the Snow King→KT 22 segment. Skyler Dalziel of Gunnison, CO matched her stride for stride structurally — sitting 3rd at every checkpoint — and answered with the 2nd-fastest split on the Siberia→High Camp leg. At the finish, just 67 seconds separated them after nearly two hours and 45 minutes of racing.

The battle for 4th was the field's most dynamic position swap. Rocky West, racing out of San Miguel, Mexico, sat 5th through the early checkpoints before moving up on the Snow King→KT 22 stretch to overtake Cal Calamia — and that's exactly where Calamia slipped from 4th to 5th, a gap neither could close in the final miles. Abby Laskey finished a solid 6th, while Ra Criscitiello and Kit Vodehnal — both from the Bay Area — rounded out the eight-finisher field, completing a demanding mountain course that not everyone in any field takes lightly.