Tahoe Rim 100 2019 Race Report

 Tahoe Rim 100 2019 Race Report with extended travel info because I didn't put much thought into that before I signed up.

I still have no clue what details people feel are appropriate for a race report, but I figured I would nclude a little bit of everything, including travel considerations.  First off, this race requires you to do volunteer trail work as part of your entry (I would like to say my reward was the gratification of helping others, but instead it ended up being a round of Elimite cream and itching for 2 weeks).  When I signed up for this race, it was solely for UTMB points, as I felt I needed a target to keep my training elevated as I waited another several years for a WSER ticket (although now the UTMB guarantee is gone just in time for me having the points, that's an entirely different discussion).  The only reason I bring this up is because long after I paid for the race, we started looking at travel arrangements and found out that flying from the South East into Reno in July is both costly and restrictive.  We researched several options and finally decided to fly into San Francisco and make the 4 hour (without traffic) drive.  The cost was 1/3 of a direct to Reno with a pletera of available times to choose from.  Once we arranged our flights we then decided on our accommodations, going with their recommendation of the Plaza in downtown Carson City.  If the logistics for future races remain the same, I would recommend staying here.  It's a well ran small independent hotel in walking distance to the pre-race festivities.  In addition they start serving breakfast for runners at 2am so that you can catch the 3am bus to the starting area at spooner lake, ~13 miles away.  The bus pickup is maybe 100 yards away from the hotel lobby and was a very nice comfortable tour bus.  Parking at the start cost $10, but is limited.  There is free satellite parking not too far away, but especially during the race, at mile 50 everything becomes saturated which in my case caused a delay that prevented a crew check in; however this can be mitigated as this is a drop bag location.  The course itself is 101.5 miles with around 18,000 ft. of gain with 6 distinct climbs and descents, 2 of which are steep.t  There are several aid stations with distance variations of between 2-8 miles, but the average distance is probably 3.5-4 miles.  I managed this course with a 12 oz hand bottle when not using poles and a 20 oz soft bottle with ultra lite vest while using poles.  There are 4 drop bag areas, Spooner (start/finish), Hobart (miles 7 and ~57), Tunnel Creek (miles ~11, 19, 35, 61, 69, and 85) and Diamond Peak (miles 30 and 80).  There is crew access at two locations (Spooner and Diamond Peak)  The race is very runable with going through Hobart then through Tunnel Creek to Red House.  This section is a lolly pop off the double loop.  You do it twice and is the only spot your feet will ever have an opportunity to get wet, so dry socks might be a consideration for your Tunnel Creek drop bag.  The climb back up from Red House to tunnel creek is steep, so poles might also be helpful ( I used them on my second loop).  Moving on from Tunnel creek is a short 2 miles until you come upon Bull Wheel aid station.  It's a minimal, almost water only station to serve as a jumping off spot for your longest stretch between aid ~8 miles.  This section is mostly downhill heading towards Diamond Peak, and is steep, but very runable single track; just don't blow out your quads like I did, because your second loop will be agony.  Once you get to the bottom of this decent you arrive at Diamond Peak (mile 30).  Here I had crew help me change into a vest to carry my soft bottle because I added poles for the next section; a straight up 2 mile, around 2000 for climb back to Bull Wheel.  The view from the top is pretty amazing although it's not the highest point of the race.  The terrain is a very soft deep crushed granite road, almost like climbing up a beach.  I also added a neck guard and ice scarf because even with the perfect weather, the sun hammered you the entire climb.  After this climb it's a short ~3 mile run, mostly down hill back to Tunnel Creek.  I dropped my poles here, then headed up to the highest point, Snow Valley Peak.  This aid station is at a little above 9000 ft in the middle of a high altitude meadow.  It is ran by a boy scout troop and was pretty efficient.  Coming from the east at around 700ft elevation, I had been training with a air restriction mask; regardless of anyone's opinions about the wisdom or usefulness of such efforts, I will say I never felt short of breath, have headaches or anything else that made me feel as if the elevation was a huge detractor, until possibly here on my second loop, but hard to tell if it was the elevation or just being mile 93 and 20 some odd hours into the race.  As an aside there were a field short, buy slippery ice fields to navigate.  After exiting this aid station, you run a rolling section within a high meadow before entering back into the forest for a pleasant gradual grade run back to Spooner Lake (AKA Stonehenge Aid Station).  Then you do it all over, for me the only difference was that I used poles from Tunnel Creek #4 until the finish and added a long sleeve top at Diamond Peak.  This and I ran it much slower.  My first loop was 11:40, with a finish time of 27:26 (15:46 second loop).  I came in 35th out of a starting field of 237 (I think).  155 finished the race which has a 35 hour cut off.  All aid stations were well stocked and the volunteers took care of the runners with great care.  I am grateful to my family and friends who spent so much time, energy and money to help make this race both memorable and successful.  This race was both beautiful and challenging and although I might not ever return, I understand why so many do.