Tahoe 200 (2024)

Day 1 (Miles 0 - 63.3)

The race started on Friday morning at 9 am PST, with around 230 runners starting the event. We started the race immediately climbing uphill from the Heavenly Stagecoach Lodge. The goal was to get around 100k done in under 24 hours and then get some sleep. The first 100k was commonly talked about as the hardest of the race, with around 12k feet of gain and equal loss.

The race was going really well in the first 15-mile stretch to Armstrong Pass, but as I was heading out of the AS, I started puking a little. This has happened in the past and I figured it was heat-related. When it happened again a few times heading to Housewife Hill, I was a little concerned. But I talked to a few runners along the way and they said this can be common with the altitude. They wisely recommended that I should just continue to take in electrolytes and sodium - and any carbs I could stomach.

I had a little more sickness as we turned around for Armstrong Pass, but that section was an ass-kicker overall…it had over 4k feet of gain in that 17-mile stretch. During that stretch, Jason and I linked up with my buddy Joel and spent a little time refueling at the AS. We were able to get sunrise at the top of Armstrong Pass, which was epic but knowing that we would have to descend it in the heat was going to be tough. We also encountered a good amount of hard snow in this section, but the Black Diamond Carbon Z poles did their job and kept me from sliding.

I was around 3 hours behind schedule with all the GI issues - and really thought my event was done. But I called my coach and we agreed that it was wise to get some sleep and eat some solid food. I also got some great messages of encouragement from friends to keep on pressing forward if it was safe. So, after getting an hour of sleep in a tent, eating, and getting my feet taped, I made the decision to roll on!

Day 2 (Miles 63.3 - 99.6)

After getting figuratively “punched in the mouth” by the altitude on Day 1, I put my big boy pants on and got back to work with a solid crew. Heading out of Heavenly, it was Jason, Tori, Robyn, and I with a few others heading towards Spooner Summit.

The net gain in this stretch was “only” 3k up and down, but this was a long 18-mile stretch. It was particularly hot in this section - and while I had my water filter - there were not any natural sources after the first few miles. We did come up on some snow mounds, but I opted against stuffing that into my filter bottle. I just wasn’t certain how quickly this would be usable.

We got into the Spooner Summit AS around dark and it was themed by one of my favorite kid movies…Alice in Wonderland. At this AS, Jason spent a little time getting his feet treated and I continued to fuel off high-calorie liquids only. I also got a chance to see Catra Corbett again and it was good to have a quick convo.

We knew this next stretch would be a tough one - with a pretty gnarly sustained five-mile climb. So, we spent some time in this stretch getting a few 15-20 min dirt naps to get some additional sleep and keep our focus. This area also had some great ridge running and we spent a little time just chilling and seeing the moon bounce off the lake…this is what these events are all about!

In a few miles, we came back across my buddy @jerseygrlz and she had injured her Achilles. So, a few of us took some time to figure out how to reinforce her leg and get her out of the trails. We had about four miles to go to get to help - and that’s where Ken met us.

After making sure Tori was good, I hit the quad trashing one mile and 1k feet of descent coming down into Village Green. At this AS, I got to see my boy Aaron and I knew he would have my back on getting the altitude and stomach sorted. And this is where the race started to turn the corner for me for the positive!

Day 3 (Miles 99.6 - 150.5)

The Village Green AS was a turning point for me…Aaron was the captain there and it was good to chat for a little with someone with a different perspective on the day. Also, he made a Boston Cooler (ginger ale and vanilla ice cream) and this was really the first “solid” calories I was able to stomach. I headed out of the AS about 30 minutes before the cutoff and was ready to roll solo. So, I put my headphones on to listen to a recent Goose show on Nugs Net and started strutting down the four-mile road stretch.

The next section would include the infamous power line climb, which is ~2k of climbing over two miles. As I was starting this climb, I heard some yelling and hyping coming from behind me…this would be my first encounter with the dynamic duo of Hannah Carta and Bobby Chombo (Brian)! I tried to hang with them as well as I could on the climb, but they absolutely dusted me. So, I continued out to Brockway Summit solo and would reconnect with that crew at the AS.

I took a good bit of time fueling up at Brockway and waited until Hannah and Brian were ready to roll. The three of us headed towards Tahoe City together and were joined by Michele and her pacer towards the end of the section.

At Tahoe City, I needed to get some sleep…while I staved off the sleep monster for a while with a mix of caffeine and creatine, my mind was starting to crack. At Tahoe City, I got some solid food, had some great foot care by Julia, and slept for an hour on a cot in the back of a U-Haul (my fanciest accommodations of the race).

After some sleep, I ventured back to Brockway Summit solo for about five hours. But I had some Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country in the ears for the journey and the miles clipped by pretty well. Towards the end of the stretch, I passed Bobby Chombo again - only to be passed by him again while sleepwalking on a long uphill stretch. But I was finally back at Brockway shortly afterward!

Day 4 (Miles 150.5 - 200.1)

When I arrived at Brockway Summit, I was stoked to see Jason, Steve, and Jess chilling out there a little. They were regrouping after a long night/morning, so I had time to get some footwork done by the legendary medical team member Thor (Tasha)! Also, during that time my impromptu crew showed up and it was great to shoot the shit about something other than the race.

After a little break, our squad rolled out and was joined by Bobby Chombo (so happy we crossed paths). Our planned pace up to the power line descent was pretty much “party pace”…really just taking the climb up easily and managing the heat of the day. Once we got to the power line descent, everyone took their own line down and took our time to make sure we did it safely. I was very fortunate that Thor is an expert on taping because the feet were feeling it on the descent.

Once we got to Village Green, we took a little time to regroup and get ready for the last night on the trails. This one would be a difficult one - not just because of the cumulative distance - but because of the below-freezing temps we would face. The next 18-mile stretch to Spooner Summit would be nasty - our group managed this section with some surges followed by some trail naps. However, it proved hard to stay together since we all needed different things.

I ended up taking the last half of the miles on solo, including what seemed to be a never-ending descent to the AS (now I get the Alice in Wonderland reference…down the rabbit hole). The last stretch back to Heavenly was an on-and-off partnership with Jason, Hannah, and Bobby Chombo! Ultimately, all three would pass me on the last miles to Heavenly. At that point, I was spent and on the last descent, when I saw the finish, I threw my poles down the hill. This was the final fun act on what was a little over 100 hours on the Tahoe Rim Trail.