The Tahoe Rim Trail is one of my favorite ultras for many reasons. First, the course is one of the most beautiful. The trails are decomposed granite and very smooth. The race director George is not only an outstanding dude but puts on a top-notch event. Lastly, the aid stations and the volunteers really make this a superb event to be a part of.

This year I ran the 100 mile distance again. I’ve run and won the 50mi and 55k twice and felt I needed to test myself and try to have a better experience at the longer distance than I did back in 2019. I knew it was going to be hard either way. My plan had been to run the San Juan Solstice in June in preparation for this race but I got sick a few days before that race which resulted in a DNF at mile 16. I wasn’t too disappointed with that as it was pretty much out of my control and I knew when I started it that I wasnt going to finish but I did want to see some of the course since we were in Colorado.

The race started at 5am in Carson City. After camping in the parking lot at the start and getting a solid nights rest and listening to a rock and roll national anthem in the morning we were off. Luckily it was bright enough to not need a headlamp. I had stashed my headlamp in my single drop bag at Tunnel Creek for when it got dark at night. Also, for those planning to run this in the future the single bag at Tunnel Creek worked pretty well as you go by that aid station 4 times at almost 20 miles apart.

Anyway, at the start you climb 4k ft straight to Snow Valley peak. It is nice to get up high so early on in the race. I ran this section with a guy from Lacrosse Wisconsin name Michael Borst. We had fun chatting about our running stories and our relatable midwestern backgrouunds.

The race started out really well. I watched my heart rate to make sure I was in the low 140s, I was eating and drinking well. I knew it was going to get hot. The forecasts were calling for record heat in nearby Reno with temps reaching 108. I’ve run in heat before and had trained in it quite a bit so I wast worried about that aspect. I run shirtless when its hot and use an ice bandana. I also don’t wear a pack but just a Naked Running Band. This technique has worked really well for me over the years. This allows my body to “breath” and stay cool and I don’t need to carry anything in my hands which is freeing.

As the day carried on and the easy miles ticked by Michael and I separated at the second aid station and I found myself flip flopping the lead with Nickademus de la Rosa a professional for Topo Athletics. I initally thought that I shouldn’t be near the front with him but I felt we were running pretty conservatively. It felt easy, conversational and we both agreed that it was helpful as we were really keeping each other from “racing”. In the end Nick ended up crushing the race and finished in 1st.

We stuck together until the 2nd time we hit Snow Valley Peak at about mile 55. We started the descent back to the Hobart aid station and I could tell the heat was starting to take a toll on me. My energy was starting to dip despite continuing to take in Maurten Gels and water. I wanted to go with a liquid nutrition but I was told that Maurten gels and their liquid nutrition are essentially the same thing so I figured it would be easier to deal with gels than liquids. Anyway my stomach grew tired and I started to feel sick after about 12 hours.

I ran mile 65 to 78 in some serious stomach and overall body pain. I thought several times about dropping out but it was always at inconvenient locations. My drop bag was Tunnel Creek and if I dropped I’d have to wait until late into the next day to get my stuff back and I didn’t want to do that. I know it sounds silly but that and trying to get a ride back to the start seemed like it would be more of a pain than just continuing to walk and jog the downhills. So that is what I did. The climb out of Diamond Peak the second time was the hardest part of the course. It was slow, painful and I wasnt moving fast enough to keep the mosquitos away.

After getting back to Tunnel Creek at mile 78 my local Silver State Strider friends helped bring me back to life. I wasn’t there long but Katie, Kaycee and Robert who are all veterans in the sport knew exactly what to get me. I double fisted broth/noodles and Ginger ale. That seemed to help quite a bit. I wasn’t running much after that but I was feeling a bit better. I probably should have hung and had more than I did but I figured I’d get the exact same thing at Hobart the next aid station. I grabbed my drop bag and what was left in it and stuffed it into my pack which I was wearing now that it was cooling off.

It was dark when I rolled into the Hobart AS. A funny guy (I didn’t catch his name) joked with me quite a bit and said he was jealous of me. I thought he was talking about the fact that I had tricked him and told him I was drinking champagne instead of Ginger ale, but he meant that I was out there at mile 82 about to run to the finish. He really boosted my spirits and made me feel grateful to simply have the opportunity to challenge myself in this way. The pain and suffering I was going through was temporary and I knew not giving up would stay with me, even if I was slower than I had hoped.

At this point I was not thinking about racing other runners despite being in 4th place. I really just wanted to get under 24 hours which would earn me the special golden belt buckle. I figured it would be a good motivator. I knew it was kind of silly but I needed something to make me push to the finish. So at mile 82 with 18 miles to go I had about 4.5 hours to get there. I kept trying to do the math in my head to know what pace I would need to go. My calculations varied but I remember thinking it would be something like 14-15 minute miles to the finish. With almost no climbing left that should be easy, but after 80 miles and a sensitive stomach it turned out to be a bit more stressful than I’d hoped.

After Hobart AS I started the new trail section of basically 17 miles downhill to the finish. I was able to run albeit slowly with a lot of walking mixed in. At one point I crossed stream and briefly saw a sign pointing to the right . I started a steep climb. I may have been moving slow but I wasn’t seeing any ribbons on trees and I started 2nd guessing my navigation. After climbing what felt like a 1/4 mile I turned back as I almost reached the spot that I saw the arrow another runner was coming up. He told me I was going to the right direction and to continue. Alas I saw there ribbon right passed where I turned around (damn). Anyway I felt I still had enough time to easily make my goal so I pushed on.

In the darkness I continued down the windy single track. I was surprised that it was more rocky than I expected. It could have been that my feet were just sore but the downhill was still pretty painful to run. I came across another runner (50 miler) who could barely walk. I asked him if he was okay and he said his knees hurt so bad he was struggling to get down the hill but didnt need anything. I saw a volunteer making her way up to him a little later so I pressed on.

The final aid station was at mile 93. I was still feeling “ok” at this point but 7 miles in 1.5 hours was what I had left. I was sure I’d be able to get there before 5am. I mentioned to the aid station worker and he told me he thought it would be hard to make. Hmmm…. I didn’t think about it until after I left the aid station. Why would that be hard? I carried on and the course didn’t feel runnable really. It was rocky and twisty and my body was hurting from the accumulation of miles but I was plugging along. At this point I had many thoughts running through my head like: “what if my doubling back added more milage than I thought” and I’d heard rumors that it could be a couple miles longer than estimated. As such I started to ratchet up the pace in case I was going to cut it close. Just then my headlamp started to flash, which means its about to turn of because the battery is dead. Ahh!! “Dont worry” I told myself I have an extra battery that I can connect to a usb wire and power my headlamp. I quickly emptied pack while I still had light and found the battery and cable. I plugged it iin, tucked the battery pack away and took off again. It blinked again and I thought “F me its not working” I fiddled with the cables while running hard to cover as much distance as I could with light and luckily it nver blinked at me again. Phew.

After that I assumed my light was fine and I switched it to high beam. I saw a sign that said TRT FINISH with an arrow. I had about 40 minutes left and I knew I would be okay at that point. I’d be there any minute but the trail kept going. How far until the actual finish? Was that just a directional sign several miles out? Luckily no. I saw the college and the stadium and started to hear hoots and hollars as I came down the final hills.

I circled the corner and finished in 23:37:04, just under 24 hours. I have mixed emotions about my race and my time. I really feel I could run it faster if I had my nutrition figured out. I really can not run well with a sick stomach. I know 100 mile races are hard and I knew I’d slow down the second half but I still think I can do better than I did. I’m very happy that I stuck it out and finished the race. After seeing so much out on the course from the volunteers pouring their hearts into other people’s races to the back of the packers who would have to run through another brutally hot day I felt that quitting was somehow selfish. The course and the race deserved respect and finishing was the one way to do that.