I had the amazing opportunity to pace and crew for my friend Cris at the Tahoe 200 Endurance Race. It blows my mind that a few people in this world attempt, and even fewer finish, a 200 mile race. It was incredible to witness from start to finish, and one of the coolest things I've ever been a part of. I thought I knew a lot about the human body and the human spirit, but this took it to a whole new level!
We left on a Wednesday afternoon and drove to Elko, Nevada to spend the night. On Thursday we drove the rest of the way to Tahoe, and got Cris all checked in for the race. She had to have a medical check, a gear check to make sure she had all the required gear in her pack, a gpx navigation check, and her pre race picture. Then there was a pre-race meeting. Once all that was finished, she could relax for the evening, and get to bed early.
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Corine-Tricia-Cris-Alex
We were the four who drove down together and were there for the whole week. Other awesome crew and pacers came and went during the week. |
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| It was time to get all checked in. The atmosphere was so exciting! |
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Medical check!
There is a thing during this race called 'Tahoe lung' that prevents a lot of people from finishing. Cris was ready for it with lots of mucinex , and her inhalers. |
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| It was getting very real at this point! |
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Pre-race picture!
She was a little emotional when she sat down to have this picture taken. I can't even explain the dedication and work she put in to get to this start line. It was a year of focus, doing long hard training runs (I'm talking 8 hour runs on her days off), getting in the right place mentally, etc...I know what I had to do to be confident at the start of my 100 miler, and she was doing that twice! Still hard to wrap my head around! |
Friday morning was go time! Cris had to do the first 100K by herself. There were a couple aid stations, but no crew access. She had a race tracker on, so we could see where she was, but we couldn't get to her. It was a rugged, remote area, that she said was beautiful.
Once she got started, Corine gave Alex and I a tour of Lake Tahoe. Such a beautiful place! I want to go back with Mark someday.
I went to bed early that night, because I was going to be the first one to start pacing her once she finished the first 62 mile section. I was up several times during the night checking the tracker. At one point we got a text early in the morning that said she hadn't been able to eat anything for much of the night, and was feeling pretty awful. That's not a great thing to happen that early on, but we knew she just needed to get to us at the aid station, and we could help get some calories in her, and get her all situated to start day number two.
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| The start line! |
The race pledge. 😂
The start! It was seriously so exciting!
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| We spent the day touring the lake. It's so clear and amazing! |
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| The water is so clear it looked shallow around this dock. You could see clear to the bottom, but it was actually super deep. |
The next morning we got to Heavenly and got her stuff all set up just as she was coming into the aid station. It was a long, cold, lonely night for her, and she was exhausted. She changed clothes, we restocked her pack, got her to eat as much as she could, let her close her eyes for a few minutes, and then we were off. I was pacing her from this point to mile 100. It was about 39 miles. There was one aid station half way through, but we wouldn't see our crew again until the 100 mile mark.
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| Warming up and getting a little rest. |
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| Heading out on day two! It's amazing what a little food, a change of clothes, a few minute power nap, and seeing your people can do to revive you! She was in great spirits when we headed out! |
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| The rest of the course was along the Tahoe Rim Trail. It was spectacular! |
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| She smiled through the whole race. I'm not even kidding; there were lots of very painful times for her, yet that smile was a constant. |
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| This is one of my favorite pictures from this section. |
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| There were some pretty flowers along the trail. |
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| This was during a 6 mile climb! She was about over it at this point, but still smiling! |
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| So beautiful! |
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| Right before the sun set, she really started feeling sleepy. She was almost to 100 miles, and she was tired of being on her feet. She just wanted to close her eyes and rest. I felt so bad for her! She called her friend for a little chat, and that perked her up for a mile or so. We thought we were almost to the aid station, and then we found out it was 2 miles farther than we thought. That was a hard blow! She kept saying she needed to lay down and rest for a few minutes, but we were on a road going through a town at this point. I had to keep her moving, because she was planning on sleeping for three hours once we got to the aid station and the crew. It seemed to take an eternity, but one foot in front of the other, and we finally made it! |
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Mile 100!
Cris doesn't know this, but right as we got into the aid station and they snapped this picture, I had to walk away for a minute. I got a little emotional, and I didn't want her to see or hear me. I saw some of the rough moments, and my mind was reeling at the fact that she had to do that same distance all over again. I was wondering how on earth that was going to be possible. I don't mean that I was doubting her, not for one second, but rather I knew the challenges she was going to face. I knew it was going to be so so so hard, and I was emotional knowing that she had a hard road ahead, and we were all going to have to watch her endure it. It's just something that's hard to even comprehend.
But for now she could sleep for a few hours in her car, change clothes, eat something, and regroup before heading out again! |
While Cris was sleeping and heading out on her next section, her daughter Britta drove me back to the condo to shower, and sleep. I did shower and get cleaned up, but no sleeping. I was wired, and I kept checking the tracker. I wanted to be at every single aid station that we could see her at.
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| After her 3 hour sleep, Ronda was with her for the next 20ish miles! |
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| Then it was Corine's turn to go out with her. At this point she still wasn't eating good. She would be able to get mashed potatoes or something more solid like that in her stomach at the aid stations, but the miles and hours on the trail in between the aid stations, she would have a couple chips every hour. Then we got a text from Corine that Cris was finally hungry and ate a protein bar. We knew that was a great sign and could be a game changer! |
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| I love this picture that Rhonda or Corine took. |
Then it was my turn again! When she finished her section with Corine, she needed to get her feet worked on, and she was going to sleep for 2 hours. I tried to sleep when she did, but it was too cold and I still couldn't turn my mind off. I was with her through the night from miles 133-153ish. She did amazing for most of this section. It's amazing what a small little nap can do for you. There was a time right as the sun was coming up that she told me she needed to lay down and close her eyes. She just stepped off the trail, laid down, and I woke her up 7 minutes later. Then we carried on. That got her through the next few miles. Once the sun was fully up, and when we were about 5 miles from the aid station she started to struggle. She was so tired, and her eyes and brain weren't working together. I tried my best to keep her distracted, but with two miles to go I turned around and she was all over the place; hardly able to stay on the trail. Her vision was weird, and she just wasn't seeing right. I knew she needed to close her eyes for a while. I had her sit on a stump thinking maybe if she just closed her eyes for 5 minutes, that would get her the next two miles and then she could rest. When she sat down, she was immediately out! I've never seen anything like it. She closed her eyes and started falling off the stump. I leaned her back up, and she did the same thing again. I was a little stressed at this point. I shook her awake, and had her eat a gel with double caffeine. I figured that might help her get the final two miles. She managed to get the gel down, and we started down the trail again. It was rough for the first little bit, but about 10 minutes later she said she felt about 60% better. Perfect, that was good enough to get us there. I called ahead to our crew and said we weren't gonna worry about her eating or her feet, or anything at first. We were gonna have her walk straight to the sleep tent and lay down for 20 minutes. That seemed to do the trick. After a short nap, she was up, ate a breakfast burrito, restocked her pack, and was ready to head out again. This section her son Alex got to pace her.
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| Trying to get some sleep before we went through the night. |
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| Here we go! This was my final pacing section. It was 20 miles through the night, and I loved it. |
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| We started out climbing, and it seemed like we climbed forever! |
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| I loved doing a night section. There is something so peaceful about it. |
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| It was crazy to see the effects of lack of sleep. Her body was holding up remarkably well for being about 150 miles into this thing, but the lack of sleep was definitely taking a toll on her. |
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| Before the race started, she worried a little bit about trying to sleep during it, and not being able to turn her mind off. She would literally go to exhaustion, so the second she laid down, she was zonked out. Shutting her mind off was definitely not an issue. |
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| Only two more pacing sections left! This was a 13 mile section with Alex! Such a fun memory for them to have! |
Once she got finished with the section Alex was on with her, she needed some help with her feet. They were in pretty bad shape. She was also having spasms in her neck. Having a heavy pack on for that long takes its toll. Mine was heavier than normal, and my shoulders were sore for days after. I went 60 miles, she went 200 miles with a pack that was way heavier than mine. 😲 I can't imagine how her neck and shoulders were feeling at this point! Tonya was specifically in charge of her feet, and she did an amazing job taping them up. I did watch them stick a pin under one of her toenails to pop a blister and relieve the pressure. That made me squirm a little bit. 😅 Tonya was the MVP of this aid station, because she worked on her neck too. This was the last time we were going to see her until the finish line. It was a long 39 mile section, but then she would be DONE!
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| One of her blisters. This wasn't even the one causing all the pain. |
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| Tonya working her magic! |
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| This picture shows just how exhausted Cris was. |
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| Taped up feet, a change of clothes, some food in her belly, and she was ready to bring it home! Tonya was doing the last 39 miles with her. We knew it was going to be long and painful for Cris, but we also knew that the next time we saw her, she would be crossing the finish line. |
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| We got this picture of Cris wearing her pack backwards (on her front) because she had another neck spasm out on the trail. It was very painful, but she found a solution so she could keep going. |
I also want to mention, that each time she would stop at an aid station, or a dirt nap out on the trail, that gives your muscles just enough time to revolt. Starting back up is incredibly hard. She would be stooped over, barely able to move, and couldn't straighten up. You would take one look at her and think there was no way she could go 50, 30, or even 10 more miles. Luckily she had talked to a friend about this before the race, so it was something she expected to happen, and she was prepared to deal with it. You just start walking no matter how painful it is, and the more you go, the more your muscles start to loosen up, and you can finally start straightening up. It was crazy to watch.
When Cris and Tonya were out on the final section, the rest of us went back to the condo and tried to get some sleep. I finally slept! My schedule was all crazy, so I slept a little, woke up and showered at 3:00 in the morning, and then slept a little more. 😆 Then I organized my stuff and packed up my car, because as soon as she finished, and her and Tonya showered, we had to start the 10 hour drive home.
We had some of us filming the finish, and some of us taking pictures, so Cris would have both. I took pictures, but I got a little video of her RUNNING to the finish line. I was blown away so many times during this 4 day span, but the fact that she was able to run at all after 200 miles was the most incredible thing! I can't even express how mentally and physically tough Cris is! You would truly have to witness this in person to fully appreciate it!
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| SHE DID IT! |
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I love this picture so much!
This was a very emotional journey for her, and she had so many experiences along the way, including the training, that are personal and special to her. Those aren't mine to share, but they made this moment so sweet for all of us. So many emotions! I was in awe, I was beyond proud, I was inspired, I was grateful, I could go on and on. It truly was one of the most special things I've ever been a part of. |
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| She called us her 'Dream Team.' Missing Rhonda in this picture, but we all thought it was a privilege to be there to help in our own little ways. |
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I love this before and after comparison!
You can almost feel how exhausted she was, but you can also feel the happiness coming right out of both pictures!
What an amazing accomplishment! |
