The Broken Arrow Skyrace Ascent in Olympic Valley, California, ran 3.6 miles and 2,840 feet up Washeshu Peak, and Anna Gibson and Kenyan Patrick Kipngeno (pre-race interview) got to the top first! That’s 5.6 kilometers and 865 meters, just shy of a vertical kilometer.
Anna Gibson wins the 2026 Broken Arrow Skyrace Ascent. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Gibson ran up in 43:15, and Kipngeno hit the 9,000-foot high point finish in 37:59. Gibson trailed then-leader Joyce Njeru (Kenya) on the race’s near-vertical Stairway to Heaven ladder climb near the top, before making a very late pass to score the win. Kipngeno gained the men’s lead from Philemon Kiriago (pre-race interview) near the 15-minute mark and stayed in front the rest of the way. It was a repeat win for Gibson and a second win for Kipngeno after his 2024 victory here.
Patrick Kipngeno wins the 2026 Broken Arrow Skyrace Ascent. Photo: iRunFar/Gabe Joyes
The Ascent kicked off a competitive weekend of Broken Arrow racing. It started at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Friday, June 19, and it was both part of the Mountain Running World Cup and the U.S. Mountain Running Championships Uphill race.
The top four U.S. women and men earned spots to race at the Mountain Running World Cup Uphill final, held this coming October in Canada. The weekend also has a huge prize purse, and the Ascent got $28,200, with $6,000 to the winners and payouts going 10 deep, too.
Thanks to the World Mountain Running Association for supporting iRunFar’s 2026 Broken Arrow Skyrace coverage.
Read on for the full race story.
Broken Arrow Ascent Women’s Race
Top runners have no choice but to go hard from the start, and the Broken Arrow Ascent course doesn’t wait around either. The race climbs right away, and Anna Gibson led the women from the earliest minutes up the initial stretch of grassy ski slope.
Gibson stayed in the lead for the initial part of the climb, but by the two-mile mark, her lead on Kenya’s Joyce Njeru was just two seconds. Tabor Hemming was running in third here, 42 seconds behind Gibson. Santa Clara University runner Milaina Almonte was a surprise fourth at the two-mile split, and Erin Moyer was positioned fifth.
Joyce Njeru climbs her way to a repeat second-place finish at the 2026 Broken Arrow Skyrace Ascent. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
As the course briefly turned downhill at the 25-minute mark, Njeru swung past Gibson and into the lead. Only Njeru and Gibson have won this race in the last three years, and the rivalry was on. Gibson was first in 2023 and 2025, and Njeru won in 2024.
Njeru’s move didn’t break Gibson, though. Gibson stuck to her through the race’s top slopes, and the pair climbed the Stairway to Heaven ladder section together. As they came off, Gibson still had a move to make and got past Njeru. It was closer than the final clock showed as Njeru walked the last steps.
Tabor Hemming on her way to finishing third at the 2026 Broken Arrow Skyrace Ascent. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Anna Gibson won the 2026 Broken Arrow Ascent in 43:15. It was her second straight win here and third win ever.
Joyce Njeru was second in 43:23, and it was her second straight runner-up finish.
Tabor Hemming held her position from the two-mile to finish in third in 44:55, and Milaina Almonte stayed in fourth to finish in 45:59.
Nélie Clément (France) moved into fifth in the race’s second half and finished in 46:21.
Broken Arrow Ascent Women’s Results
- Anna Gibson – 43:15
- Joyce Njeru (Kenya) – 43:23
- Tabor Hemming – 44:55
- Milaina Almonte – 45:59
- Nélie Clément (France) – 46:21
- Erin Moyer – 46:58
- Jade Belzberg (Canada) – 47:45
- Eden O’Dea (U.K.) – 47:46
- Stephanie Bruce – 47:55
- Valentine Rutto (Kenya) – 48:12
Anna Gibson climbing her way to the 2026 Broken Arrow Skyrace win. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Broken Arrow Ascent Men’s Race
Kenya’s Philemon Kiriago (pre-race interview) was seventh in the Broken Arrow Ascent in both 2025 and 2024, and he sprinted to the front early in the men’s race. Christian Allen and Mexico’s Brayan Rodríguez were among his closest chasers as the men went up and over a steep, grassy ski slope start. Trail rookie but 2:06 marathoner Rory Linkletter from Canada was positioned just behind the lead woman and would finish just outside the top 10 in 14th.
Cam Smith on his way to finishing second at the 2026 Broken Arrow Skyrace Ascent. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
After staying off the front early, Kenya’s Patrick Kipngeno (pre-race interview) started to move up about 10 minutes into the race and passed his countryman and teammate for the lead at the 15-minute mark. Kipngeno reached the two-mile mark in 20:29, and he was 23 seconds in front of Kiriago and 36 seconds ahead of third-place Cam Smith. Rodríguez was fourth and just ahead of Allen at the two-mile mark.
Smith, third in last year’s race, jumped ahead of Kiriago at 34 minutes elapsed to move into second. Smith made up time on Kipngeno, too, but he was out of reach.
Philemon Kiriago chases on his way to third at the 2026 Broken Arrow Skyrace Ascent. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Patrick Kipngeno won the 2026 Broken Arrow Ascent in 37:59. He won the race’s 2024 edition in 36:21.
Cam Smith was second and first in the U.S. championships in 38:10.
Early leader Philemon Kiriago was third in 38:22.
Christian Allen regained the fourth-place spot on the top slopes to finish in 38:29, ahead of fifth-place Brayan Rodríguez, who finished in 38:51.
Broken Arrow Ascent Men’s Results
- Patrick Kipngeno (Kenya) – 37:59 (pre-race interview)
- Cam Smith – 38:10
- Philemon Kiriago (Kenya) – 38:22 (pre-race interview)
- Christian Allen – 38:29
- Brayan Rodríguez (Mexico) – 38:51
- Casey Campbell – 38:56
- Meikael Beaudoin-Rousseau – 39:06
- Cesare Maestri (Italy) – 39:44
- Kieran Nay – 39:48
- Jeret Gillingham – 40:02
Patrick Kipngeno climbing to the win at the 2026 Broken Arrow Skyrace Ascent. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
