On the ultimate day of a giant weekend of racing in Olympic Valley, California, the 2026 Damaged Arrow Skyrace 23k serves up loads of climbing, technical descending, and a staggered begin time that may see the lead women and men end at about the identical time.
The second World Mountain Working Affiliation Mountain Working World Cup race of the weekend — and the seventh of the collection — runs 14.2 miles (22.9 kilometers) in a single loop across the mountains above Olympic Valley, totaling 4,500 toes (1,372 meters) of climbing. The primary half is usually up, and the second half is all downhill, aside from the uphill elements — certainly one of which is a 500-foot climb earlier than a 3.5-mile plunge to the end.
The ultimate elite race of the 2026 Damaged Arrow Skrace occasion begins at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Sunday, June 21, for the ladies, and 20 minutes later for the boys.
That’s two days after the Friday Damaged Arrow Skyrace Ascent, which can also be a part of the Mountain Working World Cup, and for the runners doing the Triple Crown, it’s a day after Saturday’s Damaged Arrow 46k. Competing within the earlier races is likely to be a little bit of a handicap for the runners on this race, so we’ll do our greatest to level out these competing within the Ascent or 46k, too.
The Damaged Arrow Skyrace has the most important prize purse of any path race on the earth, with $150,000 unfold out throughout the three essential races. The 23k alone has a $102,200 prize purse, with $30,000 to the winners and cash going 10 deep. That’s lots!
The 2025 Damaged Arrow 23k males’s begin. Picture: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Learn on to study extra of the highest runners, and you may take a look at how every part unfolded final yr in our 2025 Damaged Arrow Skyrace 23k outcomes article. We’ll even be updating this text by means of race day with any last-minute modifications. You may as well take a look at the complete 2026 entrants listing.
Because of the World Mountain Working Affiliation for supporting iRunFar’s 2026 Damaged Arrow Skyrace protection.
iRunFar shall be offering protection of each the Damaged Arrow 23k and the Ascent. Make sure to take a look at our preview of the 2026 Damaged Arrow Ascent as properly.
2026 Damaged Arrow 23k Males’s Preview
Race defending champion and curent Golden Path World Collection front-runner Elhousine Elazzaoui is again for a title protection. The Moroccan has been unbeatable to start out 2026, and was largely unbeatable for 2025, too. Sometimes working in a lead group till late, Elazzaoui is the perfect downhiller and the perfect kicker within the bunch. High challengers once more embody Kenya’s Philemon Kiriago and Patrick Kipngeno. Taylor Stack, Mason Coppi, and Christian Allen are among the many prime American runners anticipated to run on the entrance.
Males’s Podium Contenders
Morocco’s Elhousine Elazzaoui is the perfect short-course mountain runner on the earth proper now. He received final yr’s race in 1:43, and he’s received the Golden Path World Collection every of the final two years. Most just lately, Elazzaoui received the Zegama Marathon and Ledro Sky Trentino on back-to-back weekends in Might of 2026. Like final yr, Elazzaoui shall be within the 23k with contemporary legs, as he’s not racing the Ascent or 46k.
Elhousine Elazzaoui, the 2025 Damaged Arrow 23k winner. Picture: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Kenya’s Philemon Kiriago is the 2025 World Mountain Working Championships (WMRC) Up and Down race winner and a two-time Sierre-Zinal champion, however he’s by no means received at Damaged Arrow. In 2025, he was second within the 23k, 4 seconds behind Elazzaoui. In 2024, he was third behind Patrick Kipngeno and Eli Hemming. Kiriago was second at Ledro Sky Trentino in Might of this yr, over a minute again of Elazzaoui. Kiriago is signed up for the Ascent this yr, too.
Philemon Kiriago taking second on the 2025 Damaged Arrow 23k. Picture: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Kenya’s Patrick Kipngeno was third right here in 2025, ending 14 seconds behind Kiriago. Race-day selections might change, however Kipngeno can also be presently signed up for the Ascent, which he initially signed up for however didn’t race final yr. Kipngeno received the 23k in 2024, when Elazzaoui wasn’t current, in 1:45. He’s greatest recognized for his uphill velocity and received the 2023 and 2021 WMRC Uphill races in Austria in 2023 and Thailand in 2022. To this point in 2026, he was fifth at Ledro Sky Trentino, his first race again from harm.
Patrick Kipngeno celebrates ending third on the 2025 Damaged Arrow 23k. Picture: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Taylor Stack had a breakout run in taking third at this yr’s Zegama Marathon. He beat quite a lot of world-class runners to get on the rostrum there, although he was over seven minutes behind race winner Elazzaoui. Stack was sixth on the Damaged Arrow 23k in 2025 and fourth in 2024, and he may outperform each of these outcomes. He was additionally twelfth on the 2025 WMRC Up and Down race. Stack is barely signed up for the 23k.
Taylor Stack on his strategy to third place on the 2026 Zegama Marathon. Picture: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Christian Allen received the Ascent in 2025 and got here again to complete fourth within the 23k — lower than a minute behind race winner Elazzaoui. He was thirteenth on the Damaged Arrow 23k in 2024, too. On the 2025 WMRC Uphill race, Allen was fourth and solely eight seconds behind third-place Kipngeno. Allen was injured to start out the yr however received the Path Alsace 50k and the Twisted Fork 15k in Might 2026, and was third on the 2026 U.S. Mountain Working Championships Up and Down race on the Sunapee Scramble on June 7. Allen is once more racing the Ascent this yr.
Christian Allen on his strategy to the win on the 2025 Damaged Arrow Ascent. Picture: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Mason Coppi
Mason Coppi ought to enhance on final yr’s eighth-place 23k end. He received the 2026 Gorge Waterfalls 30k after which ran 2:15 on the Boston Marathon every week later. In 2025, Coppi was 14th on the WMRC Up and Down race, 52 seconds behind Stack. Coppi is barely registered for the 23k. On June 7, two weeks earlier than Damaged Arrow, Coppi received the 2026 U.S. Mountain Working Championships Up and Down race on the Sunapee Scramble and beat Allen by nearly two minutes.
Cam Smith is a perennial Damaged Arrow runner. This yr, he’s in for each the Ascent and 23k. In 2025, he was third within the Ascent and seventh within the 23k, within the latter, one spot behind Stack and one spot forward of Coppi. In 2024, he was ninth within the Ascent and solely thirty second within the 23k, whereas ending fourth on the 46k in between. Smith doubled on the 2025 WMRC races, too, ending eleventh within the Uphill and twenty fourth within the Up and Down races. This yr, Smith received twice on June 7 on the GoPro Mountain Video games in Colorado, championing each the 10k and Pepi’s Face-Off races. Earlier in 2026, he positioned fourth, with prime girls’s entrant Anna Gibson, within the combined relay ski mountaineering race on the Winter Olympics in Italy.
Cam Smith, the 2025 The Rut Vertical Kilometer winner. Picture: The Rut/Anastasia Wilde
Michael Selelo Saoli
Kenya’s Michael Selelo Saoli received the yr’s first Mountain Working World Cup race, the São Brás Cross contest in Portugal. On the subsequent world cup occasion, he was fifth on the 2026 Beijing Changping Uphill race and first at 2026 Beijing Changping Up and Down race. Most just lately, he was third at Ledro Sky Trentino, too. In 2025, Saoli was sixth on the WMRC Up and Down race. He’s additionally racing the Ascent.
Michael Selelo Saoli, the 2025 Chongli Mountain and Path Working Competition Up and Down race winner. Picture: World Mountain Working Affiliation/Marco Gulberti
Paul Machoka
Paul Machoka joins fellow Kenyans Kiriago, Kipngeno, and Selelo Saoli. He was third on the 2025 WMRC Up and Down race, and fifth on the 2025 Sierre-Zinal, too. In 2026, Machoka was second on the Beijing Changping Uphill race and third on the Beijing Changping Up and Down race, each Mountain Working World Cup races, and sixth at Ledro Sky Trentino. He’s additionally racing the Ascent.
Paul Machoka on his strategy to third on the 2025 WMRC Up and Down race. Picture: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Different Quick Males
One factor you possibly can depend on, Andy Wacker shall be within the lead at the beginning of the 23k. He’s a real any-distance, any-surface racer and simply ran 29:01 for seventh within the skilled BolderBoulder 10k highway race. Wacker was ninth finally yr’s Damaged Arrow 23k and received the race in 2022. He’s solely racing the 23k.
Andy Wacker successful the 2022 U.S. Mountain Working Championships on the Whiteface Skyrace. Picture: Michael Scott
Tyler McCandless
Tyler McCandless seems to be concentrating on the Mountain Working World Cup this yr. He was sixth on the Transvulcania Vertical Kilometer and seventh on the Beijing Changping Up and Down race, each world cup races. In 2025, he was fourth on the Damaged Arrow Ascent and twenty sixth on the WMRC Uphill race. On June 7, McCandless was third at Colorado’s GoPro Mountain Video games 10k. He’s racing the Ascent this yr, too.
Tyler McCandless on his strategy to fourth place on the 2025 Damaged Arrow Ascent. Picture: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Liam Meirow
Liam Meirow doubled at Gorge Waterfalls this yr, taking second within the 30k and fourth within the 50k. He’s additionally signed up for the Ascent.
Henri Aymonod
Henri Aymonod of Italy was third on the 2019 Damaged Arrow 23k, fifth in 2023, and seventeenth in 2025. Prior to now yr, he’s been twenty ninth on the 2026 European Off-Street Working Championships Uphill race, first on the 2025 Kilometro Verticale Lagunc, and first on the 2025 Transgrancanaria Vertical Kilometer.
Henri Aymonod, the 2025 Transgrancanaria Vertical Kilometer winner. Picture: Transgrancanaria/Caros Díaz-Recio
Cesare Maestri
Italy’s Cesare Maestri completed second on the 2026 Italian Mountain Working Championships Up and Down race, and he was seventeenth and fourth on the 2026 European Off-Street Working Championships Uphill and Up and Down races. He’s additionally racing the Ascent.
Cesare Maestri (left) on his strategy to ending seventh within the 2022 WMRC Uphill race. Picture: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Extra Quick Males
- Morgan Elliott – sixth 2023 Damaged Arrow Ascent; third 2023 U.S. Mountain Working Championships Up and Down race. Additionally racing Ascent.
- Lars Hogne – seventh 2026 U.S. Mountain Working Championships Up and Down race; 1st 2025 Cranmore Mountain Race 10k. Additionally racing Ascent.
- Tate Knight – third 2026 GoPro Mountain Video games Pepi’s Face-Off; 2nd 2024 Pikes Peak Marathon. Additionally racing Ascent.
- Guang-Fu Meng (China) – 2nd 2026 Hong Kong 100k; sixth 2025 CCC
- Eddie Owens – eighth 2026 U.S. Mountain Working Championships Up and Down race; 2nd 2025 Massive Alta 50k; 4th 2025 Tamalpa Headlands 50k
- Ares Studying – 2nd 2026 Canyons 25k; 1st 2026 Massive Alta 28k. Additionally racing Ascent.
- Alexandre Ricard (Canada) – thirteenth 2026 U.S. Mountain Working Championships Up and Down race; tenth 2026 Beijing Changping Uphill race; sixteenth 2025 WMRC Uphill race
Guang-Fu Meng finishes second on the 2026 Hong Kong 100k. Picture: Hong Kong 100k
2026 Damaged Arrow 23k Girls’s Preview
Two-time defending champ Joyce Njeru of Kenya is again for an opportunity at a 3rd straight win. U.S. runners Anna Gibson and Lauren Gregory are counted on as her greatest rivals, and Nienke Brinkman from The Netherlands will race after a virtually two-year harm cycle and a win on the current 2026 Zegama Vertical Kilometer.
Girls’s Podium Contenders
Kenya’s Joyce Njeru is the defending champ. She received the 23k in 2025 and was second within the Ascent. In 2024, she received the 23k and the Ascent. Njeru will double up on the racing once more this yr. On the large stage in 2025, Njeru was fourth on the WMRC Up and Down race, and in 2026, she already has six races within the books. High highlights for this yr embody a win on the Transvulcania Vertical Kilometer, a second-place run within the Transvulcania Half Marathon, and a third-place end at Ledro Sky Trentino.
Joyce Njeru, the 2025 Damaged Arrow 23k winner. Picture: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Anna Gibson has been racing close to Njeru for the final two years. In 2025, Gibson received the Damaged Arrow Ascent and was third within the 23k. In 2024, Gibson was second on the Ascent and didn’t race the 23k. She’s signed up for each this yr. Not like Njeru, these shall be Gibson’s first races of the yr. She was, although, a part of the fourth-place U.S. workforce within the ski mountaineering combined relay on the Winter Olympics in February 2026. As with the Ascent, even with a bit of race rust, Gibson is among the many race’s greatest favorites.
Anna Gibson on her strategy to third on the 2025 Damaged Arrow 23k. Picture: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Lauren Gregory
Not like Njeru and Gibson, Lauren Gregory is barely signed up for the 23k. She was fourth final yr in her solely look at Damaged Arrow. Later in 2025, Gregory received the Golden Path World Collection race in Mexico, positioned fifteenth at Sierre-Zinal, and completed fifth on the WMRC Up and Down race. In 2026, she received the Gorge Waterfalls 30k and was second on the Canyons 50k. After that 30k, she didn’t begin the Zegama Marathon after which was sixth on the USATF 4-Mile Street Nationwide Championships.
Lauren Gregory, the 2025 Ledro Sky Trentino Grand Finale winner. Picture: GTWS/Anthony Deroeux
Makena Morley
Makena Morley beat Gregory on the Canyons 50k. A 2:30 highway marathoner, Morley is new to trails however has received every part she’s raced previously yr. In 2025, that was a victory on the Kodiak 50k, and in 2026, along with the Canyons 50k, she received Montana’s Don’t Fence Me In 25k. Like Gregory, Morley will solely race the 23k.
Makena Morley, the 2025 The Rut Vertical Kilometer winner. Picture: The Rut/Anastasia Wilde
Élisa Morin
Canada’s Élisa Morin was twenty fifth on the 2025 WMRC Uphill race and tenth within the WMRC Up and Down race. After that, she received each the Défi des Couleurs Uphill and Up and Down races in Canada on back-to-back days in October 2025. On June 7, Morin received the Sunapee Scramble, which additionally served because the U.S. Mountain Working Championships Up and Down race for U.S. runners. She, too, will race the Ascent earlier than the 23k.
Élisa Morin, the 2025 Quebec Mega Path 50k winner. Picture: Quebec Mega Path/Olivier Ménard
Valentine Rutto
Kenyan runner Valentine Rutto has typically been nice, and typically been properly off the rostrum. She was solely 18th on the 2026 Zegama Marathon and forty second on the 2025 WMRC Up and Down race, however was fourth on the 2025 Trofeo Nasego, first on the 2025 Giir di Mont, and received each 2025 Mountain Working World Cup races in China. Rutto is racing the Ascent, too.
Valentine Rutto, the 2025 Chongli Mountain and Path Working Competition Up and Down race winner. Picture: World Mountain Working Affiliation/Marco Gulberti
Nélie Clément
French runner Nélie Clément was eighth on the 2025 WMRC Uphill race and seventh within the WMRC Up and Down race. Clément was third on the April 2026 São Brás Cross race in Portugal, the yr’s first Mountain Working World Cup race, after which she was sixth and first, respectively, on the French Mountain Working Nationwide Championships Uphill and Up and Down races. Two weeks earlier than the Damaged Arrow Ascent, Clément was third at each the European Off-Street Working Championships Uphill and Up and Down races. She, too, is racing the Ascent.
Nélie Clément, the 2025 Grand Parcours Vauban Mountain Path winner. Picture: World Mountain Working Affiliation/Jonathan Wyatt
Maya Rayle
Maya Rayle was the 26-year-old shock winner of this yr’s U.S. Mountain Working Championships Up and Down race. Contested on the Sunapee Scramble, Rayle was the second girl and solely seven seconds behind race winner, Canadian Morin, and he or she was minutes higher than Courtney Coppinger and Tayler Peavey. Rayle is barely signed up for the 23k.
Courtney Coppinger
Courtney Coppinger has already raced twice on this yr’s Mountain Working World Cup. She was third on the Beijing Changping Uphill race and second on the Beijing Changping Up and Down race, ending behind Njeru in each. She was fourth on the 2026 U.S. Mountain Working Championships Up and Down race on the Sunapee Scramble in June, too. Final yr, on a bigger stage, Coppinger completed 14th within the 2025 WMRC Up and Down race. She can also be racing the Ascent.
Tayler Peavey
Tayler Peavey is a former collegiate teammate of Morley and is new to trails as properly. Peavey was one spot and 15 seconds behind Coppinger at this yr’s U.S. Mountain Working Championships Up and Down race because the sixth-place girl. She was second behind Gregory at this yr’s Gorge Waterfalls 30k, too.
Tayler Peavey, the 2025 Twisted Fork Path Competition 15k winner. Picture: Emily Cameron
Nienke Brinkman
The ceiling is excessive for Nienke Brinkman from The Netherlands. Up till a month in the past, she was the course report holder on the Zegama Marathon. That point had stood since 2022. In 2023, she was sixth at Sierre-Zinal. Brinkman had a long-term harm and didn’t race once more till this yr’s Zegama Vertical Kilometer, which she received. She’s anticipated to race the 23k however not the Ascent. Her second comeback race was a bit of rougher. She was simply tenth on the European Off-Street Working Championships Uphill race in June.
Nienke Brinkman, the 2022 Flagstaff Sky Peaks Race champion. Picture: Golden Path Collection|Flagstaff Sky Peaks Race|Jordi Saragossa
Different Quick Girls
Jade Belzberg of Canada was seventh right here in 2025 and second in 2024. She races the Ascent, too, and was third in 2025. In 2026, she dropped on the Black Canyon 100k and was eighth on the Gorge Waterfalls 30k.
Jade Belzberg working arduous to take third on the 2025 Damaged Arrow Ascent. Picture: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Tabor Hemming
In 2024, Tabor Hemming was third on the Damaged Arrow 23k. She was eighth within the Ascent that yr, too. After not racing right here in 2025, Hemming will double each races once more. To this point in 2026, she’s received the Rothrock 25k and the GoPro Mountain Video games 20k.
Tabor Hemming en path to successful the 2022 U.S. Mountain Working Championships on the Whiteface Skyrace. Picture: Michael Scott
Marie Nivet
French runner Marie Nivet has raced in each the Mountain Working World Cup and the Golden Path World Collection in 2026. She was twenty fourth and ninth, respectively, on the 2026 European Off-Street Working Championships Uphill and Up and Down races, eighth on the 2026 Ledro Sky Trentino, and fifth on the 2026 São Brás Cross. In 2025, she was eleventh on the WMRC Up and Down race. She is racing the Ascent, too.
Jazmine Lowther
Jazmine Lowther of Canada is without doubt one of the few racing all three occasions over the weekend, so she’ll present as much as Sunday’s occasion with a little bit of fatigue in her legs. Lowther was third on the 2026 Madeira Island Extremely Path and had a profitable 2025, the place she positioned fourth on the Path World Championships Lengthy Path, eighth at OCC, and fourth on the Speedgoat 50k.
Jazmine Lowther on her strategy to fourth on the 2025 Path World Championships Lengthy Path. Picture: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Sara Willhoit
The U.Okay.’s Sara Willhoit is racing the Mountain Working World Cup this yr. She was eighth on the Transvulcania Vertical Kilometer, fifth on the Beijing Changping Uphill race, and ninth on the Beijing Changping Up and Down race. In 2023, she was fifth within the Damaged Arrow 23k and can race each races this yr.
Allie Avatar (née McLaughlin)is a daily at Damaged Arrow. She typically races the Triple Crown. This yr, it’s only a double with the 23k and the Ascent. In 2025, she was twenty ninth within the Ascent and eighth within the 23k. In 2024, she was third within the Ascent and fourth within the 23k. In 2023, she received the 23k.
Allie Avatar is greeted by her canine after ending eighth on the 2025 Damaged Arrow 23k. Picture: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Camilla Magliano
Italian runner Camilla Magliano is racing quite a lot of the 2026 Mountain Working World Cup too. All this yr, she’s been eleventh on the Transvulcania Vertical Kilometer, fourth at each the Beijing Changping Uphill and Up and Down races, and eighth at São Brás Cross. She’s additionally racing the Ascent.
Camilla Magliano, the 2024 World Masters Mountain Working Championships Uphill race winner. Picture: WMRA/Marco Gulberti
Extra Quick Girls
- Alexa Aragon – tenth 2025 Damaged Arrow Ascent; ninth 2025 Damaged Arrow 23k. Additionally racing Ascent.
- Jessie Diggins – Three-time cross-country snowboarding Olympic medalist, together with one gold; seven-time Nordic World Ski Championships medalist, together with two golds. Additionally racing Ascent and 46k.
- Pema Franchi Antelme (Ecuador) – fifth 2025 Damaged Arrow Ascent; twenty third 2025 Damaged Arrow 23k; fifth 2025 Mammoth Trailfest 26k. Additionally racing Ascent.
- Lara Hamilton (Australia) – seventh 2026 Transvulcania Vertical Kilometer; seventh Transvulcania Half Marathon; eleventh 2025 Damaged Arrow 23k; ninth 2025 Damaged Arrow Ascent. Additionally racing Ascent.
- Janelle Lincks – 1st 2026 GoPro Mountain Video games 10k; 4th 2025 Damaged Arrow 23k; eighth 2025 Damaged Arrow Ascent. Additionally racing Ascent.
- Erin Moyer – third 2026 & 2025 Massive Alta 50k; third 2026 Gorge Waterfalls 100k; 2nd 2025 Mammoth Trailfest 26k. Additionally racing Ascent.
- Camila Noe – sixth 2026 Beijing Changping Up and Down race; sixth 2026 Beijing Changping Uphill race. Additionally racing Ascent.
- Oakley Olson – eighth 2026 U.S. Mountain Working Championships Up and Down race; twenty first 2025 Damaged Arrow 23k
- Sydney Petersen – thirty first 2025 WMRC Uphill race; tenth 2025 & twelfth 2024 Damaged Arrow 23k; 4th 2025 & twelfth 2024 Damaged Arrow Ascent. Additionally racing Ascent.
- Rena Schwartz – third 2026 U.S. Mountain Working Championships Up and Down race; 2nd 2026 Massive Alta 28k; third 2025 Pikes Peak Ascent; 1st 2025 Cirque Collection Arapahoe Basin. Additionally racing Ascent.
- Alicia Vargo – seventeenth 2025 Damaged Arrow 23k; 2nd 2025 Pikes Peak Ascent. Additionally racing Ascent.
Name for Feedback
That was lots! Who’re we proper about, and who’s going to outperform this listing?
Janelle Lincks, the 2026 GoPro Video games Spring Runoff 10k winner. Picture: GoPro Video games
