Broken Arrow 46K: Joelle Vaught Owns the F50-59 Field

• Sole finisher and champion: Vaught completed the 46K in 5:37:15 at an 11:48/mi average pace across a course topping out near 8,833 ft.
• Strong middle miles: She posted the 22nd-fastest women's split on the KT 1→Siberia 1 segment, a standout stretch in her race.
• Steady climb through the women's field: Her gender standing improved from 38th to 30th over the course of the race, with only a brief dip to 31st near the finish before recovering to 30th.

Joelle Vaught of Boise, Idaho, was the only finisher in the F50-59 field at the 2025 Broken Arrow Skyrace 46K — which makes her the winner, but don't let the solo billing undersell what she accomplished. Covering 46 kilometers across terrain that ranges up to 8,833 feet, in 50°F temperatures and light rain with a 10 mph wind, she crossed in 5:37:15 at an 11:48-per-mile clip. That's a demanding day by any measure.

Vaught didn't just survive the conditions — she raced through them. Her gender standing tells the story of a runner who kept pressing: she moved from 38th among the women at the first checkpoint all the way to 30th by the finish, gaining ground on eight competitors across the course. The one brief slip to 31st near the end before closing back to 30th suggests she was still competing hard in the final stretch rather than coasting to the line.

Her 22nd-fastest women's split on the KT 1→Siberia 1 segment was the sharpest individual marker of her day — a section where she was clearly moving well relative to the broader women's field. At elevation, in the rain, that kind of sustained output through the middle of a mountain race is worth noting.

Vaught takes the F50-59 title at Broken Arrow 2025 as its only representative — but she earned it on the clock and in the standings.