Rock Tahoe Half-Marathon 2016 (Douglas County, Nevada)

While this post is far from a description of a hiking or backpacking trip, I thought the adventure of my first half-marathon was a worthy topic to post on, especially given the runs location along the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe.

With my recently increasing interest in organized running and my participation in and completion of the Reno-Tahoe Odyssey, a half-marathon seemed like the next logical step. I had heard about the Rock Tahoe event last year from some friends that had completed it and given the gorgeous setting and overall description of the organization, it seemed like an amazing race to start with. I had registered a few months back and been on a pretty regular training regiment, running 3-4 times a week of varying, but increasing distances. The 13.1 mile course of the half-marathon was still a bit intimidating to me though. As this was my first attempt at such a distance, I had set a personal goal of simply running the entire distance, as opposed to walking any of it. I also had a goal time in my mind of 2:45 for completion.

The night before the event, I had been helping out some friends at the BBQ, Brews, and Blues Festival in downtown Reno. Pouring for one of the local distributors also meant free access to all the beer I wanted, but I tried to be smart about it. Still 4:00 am of race day, rolled around way, way too early. I rose, stumbled into the shower and got ready for the race. I arrived at the Hard Rock Casino in Stateline, NV at about 6:30 am, which was pretty good timing as the shuttle to the starting line was scheduled to depart at seven. The air was cold and a very light mist fell on us, though the sky above was as blue as it ever is at Tahoe with just a few white clouds in the sky.

At the starting line, DJ's, cheerleaders, drones and other assorted staff kept the large crowd of 1500 runners pumped up leading into the start time. There were actually two groups of runners. The slower group had started their run an hour earlier at 7 am, while my group, which consisted of those expecting to average better than a 12:45 mile were scheduled to start at 8 am. As the clock ticked down, we crowded into starting positions and at the horn, 1500 brave souls departed Spooner Lake and started the downhill of US 50 heading into South Lake Tahoe. 

Though this downhill section made for good time, I wanted to try and maintain a pretty consistent pace. After the first couple of miles, I found that I wasn't even breathing hard, which was nice given we were running at 7k' above sea level. Passing the first of many aid stations, I ran right though, though the volunteers were ready with water, electrolyte-rich sports drink, caffeine jellies, etc. They truly do a wonderful job of trying to help ensure each runner completes the race.

At mile six, I finally decided to take a small paper-cup of sports-drink. Finishing it in just a couple of gulps, I was back on the run and seemed to be slowly passing some of my fellow racers, which always pumps up ones confidence. Though my pace had been very consistent, I think it was just a matter of other racers tiring. At about mile eight, I noticed a woman walking, which I recognized. I called her name and asked how she was doing. She responded with a 'doing great' and cheered me on as I passed her. We have adjacent offices at work and had known each other were participating, but it was still nice to see a friendly face.

As we passed Zephyr Cove and started the steepest of the short uphills, I felt my knees begin to ache a bit, but it wasn't going to stop me. I pushed myself to keep going and keep pace. Finally about 2.5 miles from the finish line, the race path leaves the highway and makes takes some bike-paths closer to lake Tahoe and through a lightly wooded area. Seeing the lake in the distance has been inspiring the whole way, but not having to worry about car traffic was certainly a relief. That is not to say that it was dangerous. Given the magnitude of the event, officials had done a wonderful job of putting signs and barricades up all along the route, going so far as to black a full lane of traffic.
Still, it allowed me to focus on finishing with one less distraction.

As I climbed a steep hill, I could just faintly hear the sounds of the finish line. Music pumping and announcers cheer the racers on as they crossed the finish line one-by-one. Finally, it was in sight and I kicked it into over-drive pumping my pace up quite a lot for the last 200 or so yards. As I crossed the finish line, a volunteer placed a completion medal around my neck and I checked my time. My official time was 2:17:38 with an average pace of 10:31 per mile. This far faster than I had intended, but it made me feel very good to have done so much better than I had expected. The celebration at the end was outstanding. Sierra Nevada Brewery was handing out free beer, which I had to enjoy, while EMT's and other professionals tended to those in need. The announcer kept spirits high and I basked in the glory of having completed my very first half-marathon.