The Adventure Continues: Attacking the Tahoe 200

As I left Armstrong Pass in the dark, it was now the early hours of the morning. The altitude highpoint of the race came in this pass. I could feel it in my lungs. Throughout the entire day, I had thought about the snowfield I would now have to cross at night. Some of the most slippery parts of the snowfield were right next to big drops. Time wise, I was on pace. The first half of the section started with another great conversation, this time with a fellow runner named Mindy. Eventually, I had to leave Mindy behind and run my own race. The adventure continues. 

A New Day

As the sun rose, I felt invigorated and began to run again. Today, it was a new day, and I felt better than I did on day one. Tears filled my eyes as I became overwhelmed by all my sensations during sunrise. Of all my long ultras, that was by far the worst day one I had experienced. When I made it to Heavenly, I was elated to see my girlfriend. She would be joining me at Village Green later that night for 34 miles of her own. After a one-hour sleep and some food, I carried on.

A Stegosaurus 

The next section almost took my wheels off entirely. The section was hot and exposed, with plenty of climbing that pushed my quads to the limit. At one point, I hallucinated a Stegosaurus the size of a bear. It was a yellow crossing sign. That was my cue to take a 15-minute nap. After the nap, I woke up and ran the next 5 miles. At Spooner Aid Station, I got to see my friend Jess Greene, who was the aid station captain. Jess is a four-time Moab 240-mile finisher and one of my favorite people in the world. 

Snow Valley Peak 

Once again, the wheels started to fall off during the arduous climb up to Snow Valley Peak, which I would see again on the way back, but I held on. Stubbornly, I persisted and just kept moving forward. The views were fantastic, and I hit the peak as the weather was cooling off. Then, a downhill jam took me to Village Green at mile 100. When I reached Village Green, the 2 miles of road in town had absolutely broken my spirits. Immediately, I knew I had to rest, and my crew was excited that I made that call. So, I took a 90-minute rest.

Great Conversations

Afterwards, my girlfriend and I set off in the early hours of the morning. These miles were some of the best as I got to share them with my favorite person. Great conversations were had even despite nausea hitting me in the afternoon on the way to Tahoe City. Saying goodbye at mile 134 was tough, but now I only had one section to go solo, then I would pick up Jason Bahamundi as my final pacer at mile 150 on the return to Heavenly. 

More Broken Than Ever

As the sun set, I felt more broken than ever. On the way back to Brockway, I saw Andrew and Casey, which lifted my spirits, but the well was drying up fast. During the return from Tahoe City back to Brockway Aid Station, I hit my lowest low. I cried because it hurt so bad. These were my slowest miles of the entire race. Still, as the clock hit close to midnight, I stumbled into Brockway and slept for 90 minutes. At 2 AM, Jason and I set off. Now, I was in the hands of my business partner, friend, and experienced athlete. Jason knew my goal was to finish before the calendar said Tuesday. Boy, did he push me. 

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Until The Very End

There were good moments and bad moments as a lot of climbing was still left, but Jason kept pushing me until the very end. After one last 20 minute nap, I could not be stopped, picking off one runner after another. Now, I could smell the barn and Jason knew it. Once we hit Spooner and saw my friends Jess and Jeremy for the last time, it was off to the finish. 20 more miles. Jason and I moved so quickly that our projected finish time moved up two hours, putting me right at my goal.

The Journey Was Coming to an End 

As the sun set on the last 5 miles, frustrations mounted as I became more and more eager for the finish line. My body was hurting, and I felt absolutely delirious. Jason and I kept moving, knowing the warm bed and finish line awaited. In some ways, I felt sad knowing that the journey was coming to an end. Then, we saw it. The lights of Heavenly were on. I ran hard into the finish, my Richstone Family Center flag in front of me. The race was over, and I received hugs from my friends and crew. My crew members who had to leave texted their congrats in the WhatsApp group. An amazing race and team effort was complete. I finished 208 miles in 86 hours, my best trail 200-miler by almost 10 hours. 

Back to Our Lodging 

Stumbling to the car, Jason and I went back to our lodging. The next few days were a haze but involved donuts and heading back to the start line to cheer on the last runners. Recovery took 3 weeks, but my mind was already locked into my next race. The Bigfoot 200 was coming on August 9th and Bigfoot did not care about the Tahoe 200. Now, I would face an entirely different beast in the Cascade Mountains. The adventure continues. 

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