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A big dose of Heaven: TRT104, 2021

Last weekend I completed my sixth Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Run 100-miler. The race’s tagline is “A glimpse of Heaven, a taste of Hell.” The average elevation of the course was 7800′ and took place on mostly single-track decomposed granite trails. This was the first year the race started and finished in Carson City, and the course changes had amounted to a longer distance (about 104 miles) with more climbing (about 20k’ gain).  To prepare for the 2021 edition, IRead more
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TRT 100 2019 – Number 5

Stumbling and staggering up and over Snow Valley Peak,  pain radiating down my legs with every step,  blisters exploding underfoot like deep shards of glass, I fantasized about “getting” to drop at the next aid station – mile 93 – surely they won’t let me go on when they see my feet. Nearly 24 hours into the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 – my fifth one – all I could think about was dropping. My pacer, Javier, practically ran circles aroundRead more
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Western States 100

Two days before the race, Mone’ told me that Cortney, the famous pastry chef for Squaw, was super excited about all things Western States. When she heard I was doing it, she asked for my autograph. I said, tell her yes, in exchange for a piece of her red velvet cake, and Cortney replied:

“tell her if she finishes Western States I’ll bake her a whole f#$%ing cake.”Read more
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Western States week

“Coach tells us a story about his dad who was running a race for 100 miles from Squaw to Auburn, and he talked about failure and what it was like to work for something and show up, and keep showing up even when it feels like the outcome you want is impossibly out of reach.   Because when you keep showing up, at some point you’ll see something you never considered to be possible.   And you automatically beat anyoneRead more
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TRT 100 – a glimpse of heaven, more than a taste of hell

How had I become “that guy”, an example of “what not to do” in this race?  Lying in an indiscernible pile on the ground, mile 65, 10:00 pm or so, at the psychedelic Alice and Wonderland -themed Red House Aid Station, I listened as an intermittent stream of runners entered, refueled, and then continued on their way.  The sting of being passed had faded over the past 6 hours, after being reduced to a jog-walk-stop-poop rotation for the past 20 miles, until I could go no more. I had fallen down the rabbit hole.Read more
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Tahoe Rim Trail 100 2016

Thrilled to have my sister Lynette (aka Net or Netty) fly out from Michigan to crew for me at the 2016 Tahoe Rim Trail 100, I excitedly drove my “new” 1983 VW Westfalia down to the airport in Reno Wednesday to pick her up. This would be the ultimate crew-mobile! Within 20 minutes of getting Net from the airport though… Lynette, Avian, Beverly and I got to take our first ride in a tow truck. The driver gave me his card,Read more
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Western States 100 2013 Recap

After about eight months of one injury followed by another, I had many reasons to simply not start this race. The biggest challenge was that I had missed nearly three weeks of any running at all, during the time I should have been peaking in my mileage. In the last few weeks before the race, as I started running again – five miles initially, and gradually building up (while everyone else was tapering). I received encouragement and inspiration from othersRead more
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Tahoe Rim Trail 100 mile Recap

This past weekend I finished my first hundred mile race, the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 (“TRT”), which consists of one fifty-mile loop run twice. Elevation change is estimated at around 22,000’ total ascent, with a similar amount of descent. The low elevation of the course is around 6800′, high is 9200′. Weather this year was dry and warm- highs in the low 90s during the day, with lows in the 40’s at night. I put together a little story asRead more