The Tahoe 200 - A Recap and Reflections
“1 year from today I want to look back and say, ‘damn, I really did believe in myself and you know what … it worked.’”
Before
the race started, I posted the above quote on social media. In this
case, I both wanted to hold myself accountable, but I did truly believe I
was ready for this.
I'm nearly a week out now from finishing the race and I am still at a loss for words. I always knew this was an ambitious goal, but I don't think I realized how ambitious until I was about halfway through day 1. At times, I definitely had impostor syndrome and felt like I had over committed, but in the end I was able to stick it out.
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| The crew at the finish |
I am not really into the concept of "life changing experiences" but persevering in this race and watching others do the same really has given me some perspective on what people are capable of and how powerful taking just a little time to regroup can be.
Cast of Characters
Before
getting into the race recap, I believe it is important to introduce the
cast of characters (or as David Goggins calls them, "The Foxhole").
Neil (Crew Chief): Crewed both my 100 milers (2017 and 2019) and is excited for more.
Amy
(Chief Supporter / Motivator): Excited for Tahoe, but excited this
training block is over. Can convince me I can do anything.
Nat (Crew): Been ready for Tahoe for 18 months. Supporting and showing Nat anything is possible is key to my success.
Doug
(Assistant Crew Chief / Head Pacer): The most experienced ultra runner
in the group. Tasked with logistics and organizing the rest of the crew
and pacing me for 52 of the 200 miles.
Becca (The Bad Cop /
Pacer): Her resume is too long to list (with 105+ marathons and a
Guinness World Record). Tasked with being the “bad guy” if things get
too negative. No one quits on Becca’s watch.
Lisa (The Good Cop
/ Pacer): Always up for an adventure. Actually, likes running in the
middle of the night. Tasked with being the positive one to keep me
motivated and moving forward.
Shawn (Social Media / Pacer):
Social media guru and super positive guy. True believer of what you get
is the result of the work that you put in.
Pre-Race
The trip started with a 7am flight the Wednesday morning before the race. On the flight, I watched the movie "Arthur the King"
about an adventure racer who ended up adopting a dog that joined his
team during a 5 day race through the Dominican Republic. A pretty cool
story and a great reminder that not everything is just about you. A
perfect way to level set and get my head in the right space.
After arriving in San Francisco and grabbing a rental car, I drove to Sacramento getting there in time for lunch. I did a quick shakeout run along the American River, made a quick stop at Trader Joe's to grab some groceries, and made it to our rental by 4:30pm.
After race check-in, I made my way down to the lake and just took a little more in. There really are no words to describe the beauty of Lake Tahoe, one of the clearest lakes in the world.
Day 1 - Heavenly to Armstrong Pass to Housewife Hill and Back (64 miles / 11k' climbing)
The first day was to include 63 miles with 11k' of climbing. This would be the hardest 100k I had ever done and nearly the most climbing in a single day (I did 15k' at Transvulcania in 2018).
The feeling of stoke had turned to jitters. When asked how I was doing, I simply said fine (which stands for "Freaked out insecure neurotic and emotional").
As I stood at the start line waiting to go, the owner of Destination Trail, Candice Burt, led us through the pre-race chant saying "If I get lost, hurt, or die, it is my own damn fault."
As the race started, I took a deep breath, and said to myself, "Let's do this. Two years in the making."
After a nearly 500' climb over the first mile, I broke into a mix of a walk run. I couldn't believe I was finally doing this.
After getting over 8k', the views became breathtaking. I knew the first 10 miles were going to be a bit of grind as it got you up to the course high point, 9700', but I was surprised on just how much of it was runnable.
As I reached the first snow patch (around 9.5 in), I caught up with a group of runners that had stopped. Looking up, I saw that one of them was wincing and saw that his shoulder had become dislocated. Unsure what to do, we walked with him for a few minutes, still 5 miles from the nearest aid station, before he sent us on. Luckily, a few minutes later another runner was able to help him and pop it back into place. The runner's name was Eli and he still went on to finish the race. It was pretty powerful to see first hand how runners here truly were a different breed.
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| Race High Point 9700' |
Arriving at the first aid station 15 miles in, I was doing pretty well. After a quick snack (tortilla) and refilling my pack with tailwind, I kept on moving.
The aid station was about 1 mile / 500' below the Tahoe Rim Trail. From there we climbed back up to 9500' before 1 of 2 long descents. At this point, I started leap frogging with a few different runners and chatting a bit. It is always fun to see what different levels of experience each has; from other 200 mile races, to 100 milers, to long hikes, and even backyard ultras. Each runner really has their own story.
Shortly after crossing the marathon, I began my next ascent and chatted with a woman from Boise named Jodine. This was her second 200 having completed Bigfoot in 2022.
Miles 28 - 32, we dropped from 8000' down to 6500' as we anxiously looked for the turnaround. It was very clear that it was going to be a full on grind getting back out from the aid station. As I arrived at Housewife Hill, I was still holding just under 14 min / mile pace (just over 2 min / mile faster than my goal for day 1). After a little bit of food, refilling my pack and a couple cups of coke to settle the stomach, I began the return trip to Heavenly.
The third leg was definitely the hardest leg of day one. It was still pretty warm out and consisted of two really long climbs; 1500' over the first 4 miles and then after a slight reprieve 2100' over the next 8.
During this section of the race is when my self doubt was probably at its highest. I had been out here for over 10 hours already, was doing more hiking then running, and full on questioning my training. What was I doing running 135 mile weeks at sea level with a tiny fraction of the climbing of this race? Did I really have any business tackling something like this? Did I just make one of the worst over-commitments of my life? I had thousands of dollars, family and friends, tied up in this. While I knew they would always support me unconditionally, that doesn't mean I still didn't feel that I owed them.
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| Sunset Day 1 |
After I finished the second climb, and looked to my left, I saw the sun setting on day 1. I don't know what it is about the power of the sunrise or sunset, but it always gives me a sense of strength. I stopped for a quick picture and then took out my headlamp; 17 miles to go on day 1.
With some renewed spirit, I ran the next 4 miles back to the Armstrong Pass aid station. Still quite nauseous, I had some more coke and chicken noodle soup. About 15 minutes, I left the aid station with Jodine and we hiked back up to the rim trail.
Going back through the high point and the snow sections in the dark was a bit surreal. I was pretty conservative with my approach to ensure that I both didn't hurt myself or get lost. Funny enough, the trail through the snow was easier to follow at night with the amount of dirt the other runners had tracked onto it.
As I began, what I thought was the
easy 10 mile descent into Heavenly, I was rudely reminded why so much
of that first 10 miles was runnable; while this section trended down,
there was lots and lots of small rolling hills. In the first 10 miles, I
was fresh enough to not notice, but now 54 miles and 10,000+' climbing
in, my body could innately identify anything that resembled an incline.
To make this worse, the only thing I could hold down at this point was
gels and I had run out.
After a 2.5 hour struggle, at 2:45am, I finally came back into the view of Heavenly (and was greeted with a loud whoop whoop), the end of day 1, and my first chance to get a little sleep. I sat down and had a quick cup of chicken noodle soup. I was so happy to see my friend, Shawn, waiting for me with my gear. About 10 minutes later, I found some blankets and a tent and nodded off for the next 2 hours.
Day 2 - Heavenly to Brockway Summit (54 miles, 10k' on the day, 118 miles, 21k' total)
If there is one takeaway from this event, it really is just how powerful a little bit of sleep really is. When I got back to Heavenly, I felt like I had died. I convinced myself to just sleep a little and re-evaluate when I woke up. Seeing Amy, Doug, and Neil when I woke up lifted my spirit more than you can ever imagine (the bacon didn't hurt either).
At 6:10, Doug and I headed out on the next section, 18 miles / 3k' climbing to Spooner
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| Beginning of Day 2 |
By
mile 80, we had reached the high point of the leg with an incredible
view of the lake to our left. We leap frogged Eli here, who was
currently being paced by his "media guy." Laughing, Doug stated they
were making him look bad. As we passed, we checked in to see how his
shoulder was doing. He said, "Sore but not too bad and thank you for
asking." It was great to see him moving so well after dealing with a
pretty bad injury the first day.
We were able to hold onto that incredible feeling through the 5 mile descent into the Spooner aid station.
After a quick break (FYI quick is relative and increases in time at each stop. This one for example was roughly 25 minutes) and an olive pizza (made to order, these aid stations were incredible), Becca and took off, for what is called the prettiest section of the course.
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| Snow Valley |
Unfortunately, the next 6 miles were a bit of a bear as we climbed 1800' back up to 9000'. It was getting quite hot out again and we would oscillate between feeling radiated and having a breeze that made it tolerable again. Nonetheless, this section had some of the most incredible views of the entire route.
With about 6 miles left in the leg, we turned on a dirt road for a long descent. The radiant heat was almost unbearable and my feet were absolutely killing me. After being on such a high note, I was really suffering again. This section seemed to go on forever.
As we finally made it to the road, we passed a small family who inquired about the race. Hearing that I was 103 miles into a 200 mile race literally broke their capacity to think.
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| Feet Tapping |
One thing that I
had never experienced in an ultra before was feet so bad that I needed
help. Sure I get blisters and have really sweaty feet, but I have
always been able to just tough it out (note I had never run over 103
miles before). At this point, 9 of my 10 toes were pretty raw and had a
macerated skin on the bottom of both feet. I enjoyed first a root beer
float and then a Starbucks iced coffee as the medic went to work. In
the end she performed nothing short, both a work of art and miracle and
for that I will always be thankful. She also let me know that I needed
to check back in on the way back through to let her know how it held
up.
About an hour and a half later with a renewed spirit, I left with Lisa on my final leg of the day, a short (14 mile) but steep climb through a section known as "power line" to Brockway Summit.
After a wonderful 3 mile road section where I even logged a pair of sub 12 minute miles, we began our climb. First, through a neighborhood on the roads and then straight up the power line trail. Left, right, left, right and about an hour later, we had reached the top. As we ascended, we quickly discussed that an audible might need to be pulled on the way back. As strong as Becca is, she really isn't into technical trails, and with a grade somewhere in the vicinity of 45%, she wasn't going to be very happy with me if she had to descend this ... and to make matters worse, we were very likely to hit it in the dark.
Shortly after completing the climb, and enjoying another phenomenal view of the lake, it got dark. From there we had a mix of fire roads and single track as we made our way to the next aid station. One of the things that was really messing with me was that each leg was a 1/2 to 1 mile longer than expected. After being on my feet for nearly 18 hours, I just wanted to sit down.
Finally, around 11:20, we arrived at Brockway, and settled down with a cup of vegetable soup before Doug and Lisa headed back to the rental.
Day 3 - Brockway to Tahoe City and Back to Village Green (54 miles, 8500', 172 miles, 30k' total)
At 2:45am, my alarm woke me suddenly from a sleep. While not fully rested, I once again felt that feeling of purpose and was ready to continue. After sliding my shoes back on, I slowly made my way over to the fire and was excited to see Amy and Shawn.
I sat down, had a little coffee, and a half a breakfast burrito before getting started. Day 3 was going to be a big day as I both would reach the final turnaround in Tahoe City as well cross the 150 mile mark. I was well into unexplored territory and frankly had no idea how this would unfold.
As I sat there, another runner, who looked a bit beat up,
just sat wrapped in a blanket. I told the story about how jealous I
was that Lisa got to go home and snuggle with Becca after the previous
night's leg. A warm bed literally sounded like one of the best things
ever in the world. He just smiled.
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| Coming into Tahoe City |
For the next 15 miles, Shawn and I covered some
rolling hills (~ +-300'). We picked it up a little once it got light
out and really just enjoyed ourselves. It was father's day and we
reminisced about enjoying being both parents.
Supposedly, the last 5 miles of the leg were going to be a nice downhill, but it sure didn't feel like it. I couldn't believe how hot it was already at 9:30am.
After a quick stop (and another ice coffee and pancakes) at Tahoe City, Becca and I started our return trip. This was the first audible we pulled. Becca is better in the heat and Doug is more skilled on technical terrain.
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| Weathering the Heat w/ Becca |
During
one of the really hot sections, Eli caught back up to us and we chatted
with him a bit. This was his 3rd 200+ miler (having done Moab and
Cocodona) in the last year. Once we dropped that Becca is a 2x World
Marathon Challenge champion and Guinness Book World Record holder, he
got a little more interested.
After a long slow grind, Becca and I finally made it to a lake with a stream coming out of it and refilled our packs. I wet my hat. It was crazy that I went so quickly from overheated to actually shivering. The dry mountain air was wild.
Shortly
after this, I crossed 150 miles and was quoted as saying, "This would
be awesome if this was the Tahoe 150." My mind might be fuzzy, but I am
pretty sure Becca laughed at me and then just said "No!"
Once we arrived back at the Brockway aid station, I sat down and asked the medical volunteer to take a look at my feet again. He did some minor touch ups and frankly just getting off them for a little bit made me feel better. I also all of sudden became ravenous and wolfed down two large cheeseburgers.
At 6pm, with renewed spirit Doug and I took off. 14 miles with 2400' climbing to get back to Village Green. The original plan had me sleeping at Brockway, but we decided it would be better to push through since it was still early. My crew also agreed to set up a bed in the back of the pickup truck Shawn rented. This made the last day a lot more tolerable only being in the range of 38 miles instead of 54.
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| Brockway, Mile 158 |
We arrived at the top of power line, just as the remaining daylight had dissipated. Just a gnarly descent and a couple miles of roads until the end of day 3.
Just as we began the descent, we caught Jodine again and as we passed she yelled "Boston!" The descent was pretty gross and a lot of me really wonders why this is even part of the course. As we knocked chunk after chunk of gravel down the hill, I told a fellow runner about how I had to switch Doug and Becca's legs. Doug then pipes up from behind me with "This really isn't my thing either." Doug, we thank you for taking one for the team here.
After getting out of the woods, we had a 1 mile road descent followed by a few more miles on a bike path. As I checked my watch, I realized I had only 2% battery left, looked at Doug and said "We're going to have to run this."
We arrived at Village Green, mile 172, at 10:30pm, elated to be done with day 3. 38 miles to go. After sitting down, I found the medical volunteer that had helped me out the previous day and thanked her profusely again.
A few minutes later, Eli came in and sat down next to me, having gotten slightly lost after exiting the trails (I think he may have just been trying to add mileage). I wished him luck before heading to bed as he said he was going to try and push through. He went on to finish in 19th / 4 hours ahead of me.
Day 4 - Village Green to Heavenly (38 miles, 7000', 210 miles, 37k' total)
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| Sunrise w/ Lisa on Day 4 |
After a quick breakfast and a chat with Annette, one of the medical volunteers and also an ultra runner from the Boston area that I unknowingly had overlapped with at many races, Lisa and I got moving. It was 2:45am and quite chilly (high 30s).
First up was a 2000+' climb. I was super excited to see how pumped Lisa was and for the first time in the race, I was 100% convinced that I could do this. With over 3500' of climbing over the next 18 miles, I went on to have one of my strongest legs of the whole event (beating my estimation by 1 hour 15 minutes). After reaching 8500', Lisa and I watched the sun pop out from behind the mountains and for the first time in the whole event, I pulled my phone out and texted my friends a picture and said, "31 miles to go! Let's do this."
I was really able to enjoy myself over the next 12 miles as we crossed 9000' for the final time. That crisp, cold mountain air felt wonderful after melting the day before. The changing colors in the terrain, the sky, and the views were absolutely magnificent. I remember saying to Lisa, this is why I do this; putting in hard efforts to climb up to places with amazing views. This is what I live for.
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| 9000' for the final time |
Shortly after 9am, Lisa and I arrived at the Spooner Summit aid station, the final stop before the last leg. Here I had breakfast, eggs, bacon, M&Ms, and Starbucks Ice Coffee while Nicolette, the medical volunteer, took one final look at my feet. Still riding the high from the first leg, I joked with the aid station captain as she said "A lot of runners want buckles today" by replying with "A lot of runners want to shower today."
40 minutes later, Doug and I took off. Less than 19 miles now separated me from becoming a 200 mile finisher.
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| 25 min trail nap |
I sat down for a few minutes and at Doug's suggestion, tried to close my eyes and force a reset. We got going again and I felt slightly better, but was still really hurting.
A few miles later, I stopped and put my hands on my knees and started to fall backwards and thankfully Doug caught me. We both knew at this point that I was going to have to take a real nap. 25 minutes later, I woke back up with a new sense of vigor. 9ish miles to go. Time get this thing done.
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| Hug from Nat w/ 5 to go |
From there we descended down to route 207 and then back up to the ski slopes. It seemed like the finish line would never come into view. Finally, as my watch beeped for mile 210, I could both see and hear the finish. As I started that final descent, I felt my eyes tearing up. I let loose and started sprinting down the mountain.
As I exited the trail, Neil joined me for the final 50 yards as we looped around the corner and down to the finish. As we crossed the finish line, I just raised my arms in the air. I couldn't believe that I was done.
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| The finish with Neil |
-- 79 hours, 29 minutes, 44 Seconds -- 210.39 Miles - 37 / 150 (233 started) finishers --
An experience of a lifetime!
Post Race
I was never so happy as to sit down at the finish. After getting my mandatory finisher's mugshot and collecting my buckle, I found some shade and ordered a pizza. Becca video chatted with the rest of our running club, most of whom had made me motivational videos that the pacers had shown me throughout the race and we all enjoyed a minute together.
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| Finish line toast |
- "What are you going to do first when you finish? Cry!"
- "I want to be part of the crew next time."
- "I'm solidly in the middle of the tunnel."
- "After this I know there is nothing I can't do."
- "I've never asked for this much help before."
- "Scot asked me to slow down so he could catch up with me."
Shortly later, we headed back to the house to watch the Celtics win the championship in the NBA finals. A fitting end to a great day. After a not so quick shower, I sat on the couch and just tried to relax. A few hours later, Lisa, Becca, and Shawn headed to the airport.
Life is funny. It can move so fast and so slow simultaneously. You blink and it is over.
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| One tired Scot |
The
next morning, I had breakfast 4 times. I think I was a little behind
on calories. We made our way down to the lake and to let the kids play
in the sand and then went to the park where I slogged out a mile to keep
my run streak alive (Day 3,823). It was a hard earned mile.
We stopped by the finish line for the golden hour (final hour of the race) and saw a few more racers finish before heading out of town and working our way back home.
24 hours post race, all I could think about was just how grateful I was for all those that allowed this to happen; the race directors, the volunteers, the medical staff, my crew and pacers, my family, everyone that sent messages of support, and my fellow runners. If everyone could lead with empathy, like we see from all the above mentioned individuals during this race, we would live in a much, much better world.
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| Lake Tahoe, Post Race |
- Scot
Reflections
Pacing / Race Plan
One
of things that was really cool was just how accurate my plan was. I
was never more than 1.5 hours off schedule and even finished 30 minutes
ahead of schedule. I slept less than planned and took longer at the aid
stations but was able to move quicker than planned and didn't slow down
quite as much as expected in the back half.
Calorie Consumption / Aid Stations
One of the biggest challenges of the race was that the majority of the aid stations were over 18 miles apart. In most ultras, the aid stations are 4-9 miles which really lets you get away keeping both a light pack and not having to worry as much about calorie consumption. With this, you really had to pay attention or you quickly could end up in trouble. There were multiple legs I went multiple hours without taking anything in.
Limiters / Training
It is pretty clear that living at sea level with minimal access to good mountains was a limiter for me. While I am really happy with my result, you still can't not wonder what if. While I was second guessing everything on day 1, in the end, I am pretty happy with the training I employed and in the environment that I was able to do it in.
Limiter wise, day 1 was all about nausea caused by altitude. By mid day 2, my feet were killing me and while they were better after getting taped, they still never got back above 75%. Day 3, the tendon on the inside of my left knee became inflamed. It would loosen as I ran but tighten immediately afterward. Fatigue didn't really hurt me until day 4, at that point, I was 70+ hours in on 8 hours of sleep.
All and all a pretty incredible learning experience.
Motivational Videos
A huge shout out goes out to Doug for coordinating and getting each of our friends to record motivation videos. From the one of Becca he showed at the start line to the one Lisa showed of Karalyn late Saturday night, they went a long way at keeping both morale high and maintaining hype.
To anyone doing a race like this, I highly recommend seeing if your friends are willing to do this. The feeling of camaraderie is really powerful in keeping you going.
What's Next
Everyone knew this was coming. It is really funny how much the memory of suffering fades so quickly.
For the remainder of 2024, I have just three goals, which should be easily achievable.
1. Finish the NH 48. I have just 4 to go and believe I can get it done in 2 or 3 trips. Just need to figure out the logistics.
2. PR the 50k. Signed up for the Marine Core 50k, my first road 50k, and just need to beat 3:58 (7:37 / mile) which was set at the TARC Spring Classic back in 2014. Should be easily achievable once I get back into the swing of things.
3. Break 4000 miles for the year. At the time of writing this, I am at 2,366 miles and with more than 6 months to go in the year, all I have to do is stay consistent like I have done over the last 10 years.
Further out is going to have to take some soul searching and family discussions. In my 2023 recap, I posted "The Next 5 years" in which I named some lofty goals including Madeira Island, the Alps, and the Wonderland trail. We also have a family goal of taking a 6-7 week road trip and visiting a number of National Parks in the US and Canada.
Will I ever go 200+ miles again? Currently I would say no, but I have been wrong before. Only time will tell.
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| Nat Showing Off Our New Buckle |
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