Despite the difficulty of the course, the pace of the top runners was remarkable—Stout at 10 minutes and 20 seconds per mile, and Arritola at 11:54.

    The course climbed Warm Springs and the bottom of Limelight, crossed to Roundhouse and descended to Seattle Ridge’s Broadway service road.

    It continued up Bald Mountain Ridge along the Lookout traverse, arrived at Lookout Restaurant atop the 9,150-foot Baldy summit, and made a world-class descent down the Bald Mountain trail over to River Run and then back to Warm Springs and Greyhawk.

    Finish line was back at the base of Warm Springs.

    Of the four Cirque Series events staged to date, Saturday’s Sun Valley stop was the longest and steepest—compared to 6.7 miles at Brighton and 7.1 miles at Alta, Utah, and 5.9 miles at Alyeska.

    It also attracted the fewest finishers in the three divisions at 176, although the Cirque Series total number of competitors grew to 1,419 in four events, with nearly 500 at each of the Wasatch Range stops.

    Final races in the Cirque Series occur at Arapahoe Basin in Colorado Saturday, Aug. 18 and at Snowbird, Utah Sept. 8.

    Arritola stretched her lead on the Cirque Series leaderboard to 150 points over second-place Mitzi Gray, 40, of Salt Lake City (126 points). Gray finished fourth among Pro Women on Saturday, about 20 minutes behind Arritola.

    Men’s series leader Ryan Phebus, 28, of Basalt, Co., winner of two events with 144 points, did not compete Saturday. In second place with 112 points is Adam Loomis, 26, of Kamas, Utah with 112 points. Loomis was fifth in Sun Valley.

    Saturday’s winner Ben Stout, making his first Cirque Series appearance, is tied for fifth overall with 50 points.

    Baldy Hill Climb king Miles Fink-Debray, 30, of Ketchum finished 22nd overall Saturday in 2.01:03. Community School senior Katherine Estep, 17, placed second among the 38 Sport Class women in 2.27:46.

    Local mountain runners earning class podiums were Anna Bizyukova, Kelli Lusk, Tizz Strachan, Brenna Bray, Hank Dart, Ted Stout, Mariah Stout, Morgan Hudgins, Joanna Peters, Megan Pepin, Carrie Morgridge, Julie LaFleur, Michael Starr, Kevin Ware and Mike Nathan.

    Prize money for the top Pro Class finishers, men and women, was $700 for first, $300 for second and $200 for third. Prizes of gear went to Expert and Sport as well, $500/$300 for first, $300/$200 for second and $200/$100 for third places.

    The following are top-five results for each division, along with Wood River Valley finishers and their overall placings and class finishes. For complete results, visit cirqueseries.com and click on results:

PRO CLASS

20 racers (7 female, 13 male)

    Women: 1—Morgan Arritola, 32, Ketchum 1.53:06 (1st 30-39). 2—Giselle Slotboom, 25, Salt Lake City 1.53:43. 3—Brandy Erholtz, 40, Dillon, Co. 2.00:23. 4—Mitzi Gray, 40, Salt Lake City 2.13:38. 5—Sumner Button, 32, Eagle 2.15:53.

    Men: 1—Benjamin Stout, 24, Bellevue 1.38:09 (1st 20-29). 2—Gus Gibbs, 32, Boise 1.43:36 (1st 30-39). 3—Adam Olson, 28, Salt Lake City 1.45:54. 4—Daniel Button, 31, Eagle 1.47:02. 5—Adam Loomis, 26, Kamas, Utah 1.52:00.

    8—Miles Fink-Debray, 30, 2.01:03 (4th 30-39).

EXPERT CLASS

51 racers (18 female, 33 male)

    Women: 1—Gretchen Hurlbutt, 40, Boise 2.04:02. 2—Leah Lange, 20, Park City 2.07:42. 3—Erin Storck, 27, Salt Lake City 2.13:17. 4—Anna Bizyukova, 21, Sun Valley 2.13:58 (3rd 20-29). 5—Audrey Kingsley, 26, Boise 2.14:57.

    7—Kelli Lusk, 48, Ketchum 2.26:41 (2nd 40-49). 12—Angenie McCleary, 41, Ketchum 2.38:01 (4th 40-49). 13—Tizz Strachan, 50, Bellevue 2.38:48 (1st 50-59). 14—Brenna Bray, 34, Ketchum 2.42:15 (2nd 30-39). 15—India Wysong, 44, Ketchum 2.46:39 (5th 40-49).

    Men: 1—Josh Reddish, 26, Pocatello 1.50:21. 2—Andrew Knapik, 25, Salt Lake City 1.51:00. 3—Matthew Johnson, 42, Salt Lake City 1.53:39. 4—Kevin Tuck, 62, Tucson, Az. 1.54:00. 5—Alexander Arnis, 22, Salt Lake City 1.54:13.

    12—Brad Mitchell, 48, Bellevue 2.06:36 (4th 40-49). 18—Hank Dart, 51, Hailey 2.21:02 (1st 50-59). 22—Ted Stout, 55, Bellevue 2.42:09 (2nd 50-59). 27—Mark Belanger, 47, West Newbury, Mass. 3.04:09 (8th 40-49). 29—Slater Trout, 23, Sun Valley 3.12:18 (9th 20-29).

SPORT CLASS

105 racers (38 female, 67 male)

    Women: 1—Kat Bush, 21, Jackson, Wyo. 2.26:35. 2—Katherine Estep, 17, Ketchum 2.27:46 (1st 19-and-under). 3—Mariah Stout, 22, Bellevue 2.34:48 (2nd 20-29). 4—Lauren Andrade, 32, Salt Lake City 2.40:32. 5—Laura Glavin, 38, Boise 2.42:09.

    6—Morgan Hudgins, 28, Ketchum 2.52:53 (3rd 20-29). 7—Joanna Peters, 43, Hailey 2.54:55 (1st 40-49). 8—Tiffany McCleary, 38, Portland, Ore. 2.57:38. 13—Megan Pepin, 47, Ketchum 3.03:30 (3rd 40-49). 16—Zuzana Melherova, 39, Ketchum 3.13:06 (6th 30-39). 17—Ashley Hunter, 49, Ketchum 3.15:47 (4th 40-49).

    20—Carrie Morgridge, 50, Hailey 3.19:52 (1st 50-59). 23—Candace Smith, 41, Meridian 3.25:03. 25—Danielle Mason, 29, Ketchum 3.27:30 (10th 20-29). 26—Amanda Breen, 45, Ketchum 3.39:27 (6th 40-49).

    29—Crystal Rigby, 32, Bellevue 3.54:49 (10th 30-39). 32—Julie LaFleur, 51, Ketchum 4.05:37 (3rd 50-59). 34—Lorna Sommerfeldt, 31, Bellevue 4.14:46 (12th 30-39). 37—Kristi Degulis, 34, Ketchum 4.50:40 (14th 30-39). 38—Alexandria Kuntz, 26, Ketchum 4.50:41 (12th 20-29).

    Men: 1—Christopher Rains, 18, South Jordan, Utah 2.00:19. 2—Ethan Hilding, 17, Salt Lake City 2.00:37. 3—Bennett Levine, 31, Vail, Co. 2.02:28. 4—Justin Bean, 26, Salt Lake City 2.11:32. 5—Jake Immonen, 23, Salt Lake City 2.16:05.

    8—Michael Starr, 26, Sun Valley 2.22:21 (3rd 20-29). 17—Kevin Ware, 41, Bellevue 2.30:45 (3rd 40-49). 25—Kyle Lubeck, 30, Ketchum 2.46:43 (7th 30-39). 28—Peter Stevenson, 32, Boise 2.49:06 (10th 30-39). 29—Sean Evangelista, 44, Ketchum 2.51:28 (4th 40-49). 39—James Ruttler, 40, Ketchum 3.07:29 (8th 40-49).

    42—Jan Hegewald, 39, Sun Valley 3.10:02 (17th 30-39). 45—Andrew Rigby, 32, Bellevue 3.12:23 (19th 30-39). 48—John Wright, 56, Bellevue 3.16:17 (4th 50-59). 62—James Arritola, 64, LaGrande, Ore. 3.59:06. 64—Mike Nathan, 64, Hailey 4.20:21 (2nd 60-69). 67—Bryan Quello, 32, Bellevue 5.12:45 (29th 30-39).