Tahoe Rim Trail 50M - Carson City, Nevada 4,3 Elevation Gain: 9984' - High Point: 9000' - Low Point: 6500' - RESULTS Scrolling Trail Photographs of the Tahoe Rim course July 20, 2013 - With temperatures approaching triple digits the entire week of my California visit, even approaching 90 degrees in the mountains, I knew racing the Tahoe Rim Trail at elevations between 6500 and 9000 feet was going to be a hot time since a lot of the course is exposed to sunlight, especially the extreme vertical route up the ski slopes from Incline Village in the heat of the afternoon. With the thermometer still at 97 degrees at 7 p.m. the evening before the race in Carson City, I opted not to bivouac as I usually do and checked myself into an air conditioned hotel, grabbing the last available room in the nick of time. At least I would sleep in comfort and enter the fray in the morning fully rested. The opportunity clock roused me at 0340 to enable me to catch a bus to the start from the host Plaza Hotel in Carson City. Parking was extremely limited at the race venue at Spooner Lake State Park, so I took the advice of the race organizers and rode the bus, which worked well. Temperatures were somewhere in the low 50's at the starting area along Spooner Lake, so it was good to be wearing a fleece for the hour before the start at 0600. After milling around and doing the last-minute things that runners do, like finding a tree in the woods one more time before the start (I hate Porta-Stinking-Johns), several hundred of us in the 50K and 50M events sorted ourselves out in the first mile on a dusty road that would lead to single track. The dust on the trail was powdery and thick and rose in generous clouds, giving this race an immediate gritty flavor that I hadn't foreseen. The Sierra Mountains had been extremely dry for a long time after a winter with less than normal snowfall; there was little wonder that the trails were covered with a thick layer of pulverized powder with the heavy hiking and mountain biking traffic. The trail was like this nearly the entire way. Even a single runner ahead of you would kick up a perceptible amount of dust. This would be the first event of the year where I would not get my feet wet - not at all! The dusty North Canyon Road would channel us into the gradually climbing Marlette Trail which would deliver us to the first aid station at Hobart after climbing 1500 feet in 6 miles, taking us past a pristine Marlette Lake early in the morning. With a larger field than I have been used to I decided to commit a bit more effort than usual for the first few miles to stay out of traffic. As it turned out I still found myself in queue, forced to walk up gradients I normally would have easily negotiated at a running pace, patiently biding my time until things opened up. Sharing the trail with many of the more enthusiastic 50K runners, I resisted the natural temptation to follow every set of pretty legs that breezed past me. The climb to Hobart seemed to take forever - taking an hour and 25 minutes to cover just the first six miles of 50. It would be a long day if this was any kind of indicator. In retrospect, walking so much early on, while in queue, kept me in check and saved me for the balance of the effort. After Hobart there were no further traffic hold ups. Aligning with those of comparable skill and expectation the event quickly became more social with the exchange of names and stories. I brought along my camera to capture images of the beautiful landscape, so attempted to be alert to photo ops from the start and took the time to stop to capture memories. Using a camera forces you to pause from a total racing focus and appreciate the finer reasons for why you really do this. It reminds you that the event is just as much a valuable life experience as it is a race over a set distance. From Hobart the subsequent 5.5 mile section to the big aid station at Tunnel Creek was much more enjoyable, rolling comfortably through mostly shady fir and pine alpine forests along the eastern ridge above Lake Tahoe, with classic weathered Sierra outcroppings, affording competitors some of the first views of the extensive lake below. From Tunnel Creek we would drop precipitously into a loop route to the aid station at Red House at the bottom. The day was heating up and beginning to take its toll on many of the runners. It was at this point in the event I began to catch up to some of the 100M participants that had started their journey an hour before the rest of us. With good quads and downhill skills and confidence in my knees I started moving on the field ahead of me. Surprisingly, my uphill skills complemented those for going downhill as I continued to readily reel in people hiking back up the long slug out of the bottom at Red House. No one even came close to passing me either going down or up as I visited the Tunnel Creek aid station for the second time in a cumulative time of under four hour for 17+ miles - in very good form. The next three miles climbed back to an exposed ridge with fantastic views of Lake Tahoe to the west and the Washoe Valley to the east before arriving at the Bull Wheel aid station. From here it would be nearly ten miles of undulating Tahoe Ridge Trail before gradually following a long descending watershed to Incline Village where the aid station at mile 30 at Diamond Peak Lodge would be attended by hundreds of spectators, family, and crew, enthusiastically cheering for all contestants. I was beginning to gain an appreciation for just how the excessive heat of the day was affecting those around me when I started receiving unexpected complements from bystanders about how good I looked, which could only mean that many others were beginning the break down and show it. I felt good - in control - managing the heat with no problems after 6 hours and 20 minutes at 30 miles. Before leaving the aid station at Diamond Peak I helped a volunteer named Tom tap a keg of beer to drink a couple quick cups of brown ale from the Carson City Brewery before continuing on. I had to hang on at the aid station longer than I would have liked to wait for him to overcome some problem with tapping the keg. It surprised me that I was probably the first runner to have asked for a beer, and willing to wait for it. This would be the third consecutive ultra where I would enjoy a cold one at an aid station mid race. I am getting spoiled and coming to expect a beer, and really enjoying it. A cold ale just cleans out your mouth from all that sugery gunk from gels and sports drinks, and then it gets converted to energy immediately. I like it. My liver likes it. Does it work??? I'm beginning to think it is a superior sports drink, certainly more refreshing, that all the fancy scientifically-formulated yucky bland electrolyte drinks. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it! As substantiation that my assertion is valid, I headed out of Diamond Peak amid much appreciated fanfare to climb the crux of the event - a 1700-foot climb straight up, first on a cat walk and then up steep ski slopes to the Bull Wheel aid station at the top of the ridge - a mere two miles in distance - but directly in the hot afternoon sun. the climb up to Bull Wheel aid station It took me 45 minutes to cover the vertical ascent, a mix of mostly walking and some running, passing by perhaps 30 of my fellow competitors, many of whom were debilitated to the point of stopping to lay down in rare shade with cramps or exhaustion, all soon after leaving the aid station at the bottom. I climbed with power and momentum as I had done on Mount Whitney three days previously. Approaching the top at Bull Wheel I felt confident in my preparedness and execution under such challenging circumstances. Bull Wheel aid station After eating more than my share of watermelon slices and drinking some warm Coke I handily rolled back the next three miles along the ridge for my third visit to Tunnel Creek at 35 miles, enjoying the broad afternoon views across the lake and the Sierras. Despite keeping control of my running effort and continuing to pull back runner after runner, mostly hundred milers at this point, I could feel the heat beginning to take its toll on me as well. I lingered a long five minutes at Tunnel Creek, filling both bottles with ice, rehydrating and eating lots of watermelon (my favorite ultra food at aid stations). I asked the volunteers if they knew what the temperature was; it was extremely stiffling without any breeze from the ridge in the woods. One said 96 degrees; another said 102, matter of factly! It felt like high 90's to me, and this measure was confirmed after the race. With 15 miles to go I carried on at my usual shuffle down the trail, walking more up hills than previously, especially when there was shade. And I drank, drank, and drank, knocking off both 22-ounce bottles in the 5.5 miles back to Hobart Station. My body was obviously combatting heat stress, but it seemed I was approaching barely holding my own. My form was still holding well and I was not yet bonking; my legs were good but I could tell I was failing as I continued. It took focus and discipline to go the next three miles with about a thousand-foot climb to the aid station at Snow Valley Peak, the highest elevation of the course - managed by a troup of enthusiastic Boy Scouts from Carson City. I continued to pull back hundred mile competitors and was beginning to catch some 50K runners, who started at the same time as me, still on the course. God love 'em. Sensing I really needed a break I went into the aid station tent and found a seat and sat down. I ate some watermelon and drank sports drink, but my stomach was no good from the heat. It didn't take long to bring everything back up, followed by dry heaves. A volunteer EMT gave me the once over and said I looked pale. Feeling less than wonderful and really in no hurry to finish I just stayed a half hour - comfortably relaxing in the shade - inviting several people I had recently passed to join me and sit a spell. The half hour social break served to settle my stomach and restore my sense of humor and perspective on the ordeal. The final seven miles of the course is a gradual downhill run. I started out with one of my break-mates, a hundred-miler named Kent. Despite enjoying his company my first priority was keeping my stomach down while continuing to take in fluids. There was never a question about persevering. My legs were not tired in the least. Gradually I regained my sense of rhythm after Kent pulled away from me, enabling me to pull back, one by one, those who had gone past me during my break at Snow Valley. Despite eating no food or shot bloks, consuming only water during the last 15 miles, I rolled on, eventually pulling back Kent after regaining strength, composure, and good form. When I crossed the finish in 12 hours and 38 minutes and 56 seconds for 47th place, first geezer by a wide margin, of 146 finishers. I must have looked good enough that the time keeper asked me if I was sure I did the whole race. I'm sure many people finishing looked destroyed. There was an exceptionally high number of dnf's in all categories. Many of the hundred milers would not continue on to do the second loop of the course. Kent finished the hundred in a tad under 31 hours. After hosing off my legs and putting on a clean shirt, my first priority was to have another beer. Beer seems to settle my stomach better than anything after a long, hot race. A couple young women I had run back and forth with through the day, Jennifer and Kami from Mammoth Lakes, joined me for a beer and some tacos with their families when all was said and done. It was nice to be stopped, cleaned up a bit, indulging in fresh memories with new friends. I ended the day by catching a shuttle back to Carson City where I collected my rental car and headed out to bivouac up on Donner Pass. Tahoe Rim Trail was not the hardest 50-miler I've accomplished by any stretch. I have done several tougher fifty milers this year alone, as well as other tough fifties in previous years. It was scenically remarkable and socially quite enjoyable. Exceptional organization and volunteers. Super people all around. The extreme heat posed the most significant challenge, followed by the climb back to the ridge from Diamond Peak. I can empathize with those less prepared than I, for those that faced suffering beyond my experience this day. I could not help but think of the folks that just completed Badwater the weekend before and what they must have faced with considerably greater challenges of heat and climbing. I kept reminding myself that any misery or discomfort I was suffering paled in comparison to those I had witnessed firsthand at Badwater this year. I am satisfied, if not surprised, to have finished in 12 hours and something. I fully anticipated a more labored effort and slower finish. The difference can probably be attributed to the climbing acumen I have improved upon in recent years. I will continue to look for more and tougher climbs ahead and I look forward to next weekend's speedy run on the Pacific Crest Trail at the Siskiyou Out Back to round out my 2013 Dream Vacation. |