Masters Women at Rio Del Lago 100: Evans Runs Down the Field for the Win

• Sarah Evans won the Masters Women race in 22:07:42 (13:17/mi), more than 2:11:00 ahead of second place — and posted the fastest women's split on the Beals Point 2→Granite Beach segment.
• Paula Mcnally made the most dramatic charge of the day, climbing from 26th among women at the first checkpoint all the way to 12th by the finish, fueled by the 7th-fastest women's split on No Hands 1→ALT.
• Michele Bousquet (5th, 25:25:28) ran the 6th-fastest women's split on ALT→Cool — a late-race surge that helped her hold off Alana Klingman (6th, 25:57:04) by over 31 minutes.
• Minnesota teammates Mel Nelson (11th, 25:29:35) and Sara Rondorf (12th, 25:30:14) crossed within 39 seconds of each other after 100 miles of racing.

Sarah Evans was never truly threatened. She navigated early fluctuations — drifting as far back as 8th among women at one checkpoint — but her pace of 13:17/mi was in a class of its own in the Masters Women field, and she sealed the win with the fastest women's split on the Beals Point 2→Granite Beach leg. Her 22:07:42 finishing time left more than two hours between herself and second-place Alejandra Santos (24:31:21), who ran a measured, consistent race at 14:43/mi and contributed the 11th-fastest women's split on Beals Point 1→Willow Creek to claim the runner-up spot at age 57.

The race's best story behind Evans was Paula Mcnally's relentless forward march. Starting the day deep in the women's field and still sitting 25th among women at the midpoint, she ground her way up with the 7th-fastest women's split on No Hands 1→ALT, eventually finishing 3rd in the Masters Women race in 23:19:01. Megan Healy rounded out the top ten in 23:53:54, while Patricia Gomez (8th, 24:17:27) and Becca Lopez (16th, 24:22:38) both finished under 24:30.

Ashwini Ganapathi (4th, 25:19:49) had perhaps the most turbulent journey of anyone near the podium — she fell as far back as 54th among women at one checkpoint before clawing her way back to finish 4th, posting the 13th-fastest women's split on Overlook 1→No Hands 1 along the way. All told, 33 Masters Women finished Rio Del Lago, a testament to a field that kept moving through a cool, clear November night in the Sierra Nevada foothills.