Rio Del Lago 100: Lyndsey Bednar Leads F40-49 Home

• Bednar wins in 21:29:12 (12:54/mi), finishing more than 45 minutes ahead of runner-up Karen Weintraub's 22:14:35.
• Javzandulam Bargy's late surge — posting the 5th-fastest women's split on the No Hands 2→Overlook 2 segment — helped her close to 3rd in the F40-49 group despite sitting as low as 20th among women at mid-race.
• Laura Kruse's front-half gamble: she entered the women's field 43rd among women early on, then rocketed to 17th by mid-race and held it, finishing 5th in the age group in 24:06:51.
• Eight finishers broke 26 hours in a 21-woman F40-49 field, with places 8 through 15 separated by just over 90 minutes across a 100-mile course.

Lyndsey Bednar, 41, of South Lake Tahoe, controlled the F40-49 race with the kind of measured consistency that wins long ultras. She tracked between 6th and 8th among women throughout, never drifting far off the pace, and sealed the win by posting the 4th-fastest women's split on the Rattlesnake Bar 2→Granite Beach 2 leg late in the race — exactly when others were fading. Her 12:54/mi average over 100 miles on a warm November day in the Sierra foothills is a serious number. Karen Weintraub, also 41, ran a solid race from Chico but couldn't match Bednar's closing pace, finishing 11th among women in 22:14:35.

The most dramatic journey in the F40-49 field belonged to Javzandulam Bargy, 44, of Dublin. She was 20th among women at one checkpoint — deep in the field — before methodically working her way forward. A 5th-fastest women's split on No Hands 2→Overlook 2 was the engine of her comeback, and she crossed in 23:27:44 to claim 3rd. Nadia Haas, 44, took 4th in 24:32:34, while Laura Kruse's aggressive early move — charging from 43rd among women to 17th before the halfway point — earned her 5th in 24:06:51, with the 6th-fastest women's split on Overlook 1→No Hands 1 along the way.

Further back, the mid-pack told its own story of grit. Anabela Diaz, 47, finished 8th in the age group despite crossing in 24:49:16 — a time that would have placed her higher if the field ahead hadn't been so deep. Kerry Hoeveler, 49, rounded out the top ten in 25:36:49, the oldest athlete in the top ten and a reminder that the F40-49 age group at Rio Del Lago is no place for shortcuts.