The 2025 Broken Arrow Skyrace Ascent starts at 9:30 a.m. U.S. PDT on Friday, June 20, in Olympic Valley, California, and kicks off a big weekend of races at the Broken Arrow Skyrace event. iRunFar’s excited to share the race story!
The Broken Arrow Ascent is doubly significant this year, being both part of the 15-race Mountain Running World Cup, administered by the World Mountain Running Association, and the selection race for Team USA for the Uphill race at the World Mountain Running Championships this fall. The top four American men and women finishers earn those spots.
For 2025, the race is taking a revised route due to a forecast for gale-force winds, making the original exposed ridgeline and finish line too dangerous. The revised route will climb 2.15 miles (3.5 kilometers) and 1,800 feet (550 meters) from the base of the ski area to the top of KT-22 peak. [Updated: June 19, 10 a.m. PDT]
The start list features many of the usual Mountain Running World Cup top runners, including 2024 Broken Arrow Ascent winners Kenya’s Joyce Muthoni Njeru for the women and countrymate Patrick Kipngeno (pre-race interview) for the men. [Updated: June 19, 9 p.m. PDT]
Five of those recently selected for Team USA for the Up and Down race at this fall’s world championships — the trial for which took place earlier this month at this year’s U.S. Mountain Running Championships — will be lining up to secure a second team placing: Anna Gibson and Allie McLaughlin (pre-race interview) for the women, and Mason Coppi, Taylor Stack, and Cam Smith for the men.
They will face stiff competition from other top U.S. runners, including Rachel Tomajczyk for the women, Joseph Gray for the men, and many more.
As well as the best short-distance mountain runners and uphill specialists, the start list also includes a smattering of ultrarunners in town for the following weekend’s Western States 100 — among them, Spain’s Kilian Jornet. Check out the full entrants list.
Thanks to the World Mountain Running Association for supporting iRunFar’s 2025 Broken Arrow Skyrace coverage.
iRunFar will be there to share stories from the Ascent race! Be sure to also check out our preview of the Broken Arrow Skyrace 23k, which we are covering, too.
Patrick Kipngeno and Joyce Muthoni Njeru, the 2024 Broken Arrow Ascent winners. Photo: World Mountain Running Association/Jonathan Wyatt
Top Women
Joyce Muthoni Njeru
The Mountain Running World Cup rankings place Kenya’s Joyce Muthoni Njeru — defending women’s Broken Arrow Ascent champion — as the top mountain runner globally, although she’s had a somewhat slower start to the 2025 season. She took third at the recent 2025 Trofeo Nasego, but was a little further back in the accompanying uphill race, the Vertical Nasego, where she finished ninth. She was also sixth in the Kobe Trail 21k, a Golden Trail World Series race, back in April. Last year, Muthoni Njeru was narrowly defeated by the U.K.’s Scout Adkin to finish second in the season-long Mountain Running World Cup. She won the series in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Joyce Muthoni Njeru celebrates a win at the 2024 Val Bregaglia Trail, part of last year’s Mountain Running World Cup Finals. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Anna Gibson (pre-race interview)
Anna Gibson knows her way around the Broken Arrow Ascent course, having won the 2023 edition and placed second last year behind Joyce Muthoni Njeru. In 2023, she also doubled back and took second in the Broken Arrow 23k. Coming off a win at the 2025 U.S. Mountain Running Championships a few weekends ago, she has her place secured for Team USA in the World Mountain Running Championships Up and Down race, and is certainly looking to add an Uphill race team spot to that as well. The chances of that happening look pretty high.
Anna Gibson takes the win at the 2023 Broken Arrow Ascent. Photo: Peter Maksimow
Allie McLaughlin (pre-race interview)
Allie McLaughlin took third in the recent 2025 U.S. Mountain Running Championships and is therefore already on Team USA for the World Mountain Running Championships Up and Down race this fall, but she will be looking to add an Uphill race team spot to that. As the 2022 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill Champion, this is well within her abilities. She also placed third in the 2022 World Mountain Running Championships Up and Down race. She had an excellent turnout at this event last year, taking third at the Ascent and fourth at the 23k. While nothing’s a guarantee, based on the current fitness she demonstrated at the U.S. Mountain Running Championships earlier this month and her huge mountain running history, she has a really good shot at a podium spot.
Allie McLaughlin on her way to winning the 2023 Broken Arrow 23k. Photo: Peter Maksimow
Rachel Tomajczyk
Despite being sick, Rachel Tomajczyk managed to take 11th at the 2025 U.S. Mountain Running Championships earlier this month. We’re sure she’s hungry for a better race and a Team USA spot for the World Mountain Running Championships Uphill race this fall. At this event last year, she took sixth in both the Ascent and the 23k, but the rest of her recent results suggest she might be capable of better than that. In 2024, she was runner-up at both the U.S. Mountain Running Championships Up and Down and Uphill races. In 2023, she was respectively second and third at those same events. Last fall, she ranked 11th amongst top international competition at the 2024 Chiavenna Lagunc VK in the Mountain Running World Cup Finals. A good day could for sure see her get on the podium.
Rachel Tomajczyk (right) on her way to taking second at the 2022 U.S. Mountain Running Championships, which took place at the Whiteface Skyrace. Photo: Michael Scott
Hali Hafeman
Hali Hafeman took fourth in both the 2024 Broken Arrow Ascent and Broken Arrow 23k. Also last year, she also took second in the Pikes Peak Ascent — up from 11th in 2023 — and placed ninth at the 2024 U.S. National Mountain Running Championship Uphill race. It looks like this race might be the start of her 2025 running season, but she’s already had success at the 2025 U.S. Skimo National Championships in January, where she won the Vertical race, placed third in the Sprint race, and won the Mixed Relay alongside Cam Smith — who is also racing in the men’s race. She should be a strong contender for a Team USA spot.
More Fast Women
- Hillary Allen – 2nd 2025 Vail Mountain Games 20k; 2nd 2021 Broken Arrow Ascent; 10th 2021 Broken Arrow 23k; 3rd 2021 Broken Arrow 46k
- Alexa Aragon – 9th 2025 U.S. Mountain Running Championships; 4th 2024 U.S. Mountain Running Championships Up and Down race
- Amanda Basham – 14th 2024 & 6th 2023 Broken Arrow Ascent; 13th 2024 Broken Arrow 23k; 1st 2022 Speedgoat 50k
- Jade Belzberg (Canada) – 9th 2024 & 2nd 2023 Broken Arrow Ascent; 2nd 2024 Broken Arrow 23k; 27th 2023 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill race
- Jessica Brazeau– 5th 2024 Broken Arrow Ascent; 5th 2025 Chianti Ultra Trail 46k; 2nd 2024 Wildstrubel 37k
- Brittany Charboneau – 3rd 2023 The Rut 28k; 2nd 2022 & 1st 2020 Pikes Peak Marathon
- Jessie Diggins – Three-time cross-country skiing Olympic medalist, including one gold; seven-time Nordic World Ski Championship medalist, including two golds [Updated: June 19, 3 p.m. PDT]
- Annie Dube – 4th 2023 Broken Arrow Ascent; 6th 2023 Broken Arrow 23k; 2nd 2023 Cirque Series – Snowbird; 3rd 2022 Cirque Series – Arapahoe Basin
- Kasie Enman – 8th 2025, 1st 2024, & 4th 2023 U.S. Mountain Running Championships; 3rd 2019 Broken Arrow Ascent; 3rd 2019 Broken Arrow 23k; 1st 2011 World Mountain Running Championships
- Janelle Lincks – 4th 2023 & 1st 2021 Broken Arrow 23k; 7th 2021 Pikes Peak Ascent
- Abby Lock – 7th 2024 Broken Arrow Ascent; 8th 2024 Broken Arrow 23k; 1st 2024 Mammoth Trailfest Dragon Ascent
- Laurel Moyer – 12th 2025 U.S. Mountain Running Championships; 3rd 2024 U.S. Mountain Running Championships Up and Down race; 5th 2023 U.S. Mountain Running Championships Uphill race
- Allie Ostrander – 2nd 2024 USATF 10k Trail National Championships; 8th 2024 Mammoth Trailfest 27k; 9th 2024 Headlands 28k (In 2023, Ostrander was suspended for four months after testing positive for canrenone, a metabolite of spironolactone, after it was determined that she mistakenly took the drug without first obtaining a World Anti-Doping Agency Therapeutic Use Exemption.)
- Sydney Petersen – 10th 2025 U.S. Mountain Running Championships; 12th 2024 Broken Arrow Ascent; 7th 2024 Broken Arrow 23k
- Emkay Sullivan – 5th 2024 U.S. Mountain Running Championships Up and Down Race; 9th 2023 Trail World Championships – Short Trail; 4th 2022 Broken Arrow Ascent
Hillary Allen, 2022 Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100 Mile champion. Photo: Neville Sharwood
Top Men
Patrick Kipngeno (pre-race interview) Patrick Kipngeno (pre-race interview) has elected to not start the Ascent so as to focus on the 23k on Sunday. [Updated: June 19, 9 p.m. PDT]
As the 2022 and 2023 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill Champion, Kenya’s Patrick Kipngeno is the man to beat in this race. He was the overall winner of the 2024 Mountain Running World Cup and is the defending champion of both the Broken Arrow Ascent and 23k. His top results from last year include wins at both Trofeo Nasego and Vertical Nasego, and a third-place finish at Sierre-Zinal. He also won the 2024 Val Bregaglia Trail, as part of the Mountain Running World Cup Finals, and placed third in the accompanying Kilometro Verticale Lagùnc.
Patrick Kipngeno, 2024 Broken Arrow 23k men’s champion. Photo: Howie Stern
While he might be racing simply because he’s in the area for the Western States 100 a week later, Spain’s Kilian Jornet is the vertical kilometer fastest known time (FKT) holder, so he can’t be discounted for the win here. Jornet ran 28:48 for a measured vertical kilometer in Vengetind, Norway, in 2021 — the time was logged as an FKT attempt since it was outside of a race setting. Although best known, at least on the pages of iRunFar, as an ultrarunner, Jornet has won Sierre-Zinal 10 times and the Zegama Marathon 11 times, arguably the two most competitive sub-ultra mountain races in the world. He will be fun to watch in this setting and among these athletes.
Kilian Jornet on his way to winning the 2024 Zegama Marathon. Photo: Zegama Marathon/Igor Quijano
Henri Aymonod
Italy’s Henri Aymonod excels in uphill races and finished ahead of Kipngeno in second place at the 2024 Kilometro Verticale Lagùnc, a race he won in 2023. He won the VK at Transgrancanaria in both 2024 and 2025, and placed third on his last outing at the Broken Arrow Ascent back in 2023. He recently took third at the 2025 Zmeu X-Fest, as part of this year’s Mountain Running World Cup, and was just two seconds behind second place.
Henri Aymonod, 2021 Kilometro Verticale Lagùnc champion. Photo: World Mountain Running Association/Marco Gulberti
Philemon Kiriago (pre-race interview)
Kenya’s Philemon Kiriago has developed a name for finishing runner-up, often behind teammate Patrick Kipngeno, and he lost a bit of form toward the end of last year’s racing season. However, he is off to a flying start this year, having recently won Trofeo Nasego and placed second in the accompanying uphill race, Vertical Nasego. He won the 2025 Golfo dell’Isola Trail 26k and took second at the 2025 Kobe Trail 21k and is thus currently leading the Golden Trail World Series. Kiriago is a strong descender who does well over a longer distance, and uphill racing might not be his first choice, but he still can’t be ruled out for the win.
Philemon Kiriago, the 2025 Trofeo Nasego men’s winner. Photo: Photo: World Mountain Running Association/Marco Gulberti
Colorado uphill specialist Joseph Gray has four wins to his name on the Pikes Peak Ascent, including most recently in 2024. Last year, he also won the U.S. Mountain Running Championships Uphill race. A legendary mountain runner, he has wins in uphill races going back as far as at least 2009, including 25 career national titles in mountain running and trail running, so few in this field can contest him for longevity. Gray has twice been World Mountain Running Champion — in 2019 and 2016 — and at his most recent couple World Mountain Running Championships, he took fifth in the Uphill race in 2023, and he was sixth in 2022. He’ll be keen to take up his spot on Team USA yet again.
Joseph Gray, 2021 Broken Arrow 26k champion. Photo: Broken Arrow Skyrace
More Fast Men
- Christian Allen – 1st 2024 U.S. Mountain Running Championships Up and Down race; 4th 2024 Broken Arrow Ascent; 9th 2024 Kilometro Verticale Lagùnc
- Meikael Beaudoin-Rousseau – 3rd 2024 Broken Arrow Ascent; 5th 2024 Broken Arrow 23k; 3rd 2024 Pikes Peak Ascent; 5th 2024 Vertical Nasego
- Eric Blake – 4-time winner & 18-time finisher of Mount Washington Road Race
- Casey Campbell – 10th 2025 U.S. Mountain Running Championships; 8th 2023 U.S. Mountain Running Championships Up and Down race
- Sam Chelanga – 2010 NCAA record for 10k; 6th 2016 Olympic Trials 10k; 1st 2009 & 2010 NCAA D1 Cross Country Championships [Added: June 19, 5 p.m. PDT]
- Mason Coppi – 2nd 2025 U.S. Mountain Running Championships; 4th 2024 & 10th 2023 U.S. Mountain Running Championships Up and Down race; 11th 2024 Broken Arrow 46k
- Lukas Ehrle (Germany) – 3rd & 2nd 2024 European Off Road Championships Uphill and Up and Down races
- Zachary Erikson – 7th 2025 U.S. Mountain Running Championships; 3rd 2024 Mountain Running Championships Up and Down race
- Remi Leroux (Canada) – 6th 2024 Broken Arrow Ascent; 8th 2024 Broken Arrow 23k; 4th 2024 Mammoth Trailfest Dragon Ascent
- David Sinclair – 12th 2024 Broken Arrow Ascent; 1st 2024 Broken Arrow 46k; 1st 2022 The Rut VK; 1st 2022 Speedgoat 50k
- Cam Smith – 4th 2025 U.S. Mountain Running Championships; 1st 2024 Kendall Mountain Run; 9th 2024 & 1st 2022 Broken Arrow Ascent; 3rd 2022 Broken Arrow 23k
- Taylor Stack – 3rd 2025 U.S. Mountain Running Championships; 1st 2024 Imogene Pass Run 14 mile; 13th 2024 Broken Arrow Ascent; 4th 2024 Broken Arrow 23k
- Andy Wacker – 5th 2025 U.S. Mountain Running Championships; 4th 2024 U.S. Mountain Running Championships Uphill race; 1st 2022 U.S. Mountain Running Championships
The 2025 U.S. Mountain Running Championships men’s podium featuring (left to right) Cam Smith, David Norris, Mason Coppi, and Taylor Stack. All but Norris will race the Broken Arrow Ascent. Photo: American Trail Running Association/Nancy Hobbs
Call for Comments
- Who do you think will take the win, in the men’s and women’s race?
- Who are your picks for Team USA?
- Who’s missing from this list that you want to mention? Be sure to share a couple of their race results too.
