Reno-Tahoe Odyssey 2018 (Lake Tahoe, Nevada and California)

For the last fourteen years, the first Friday in June has signaled the start of the annual Reno-Tahoe Odyssey. The 178-mile relay race starting in Reno, heading west through the Sierra Nevada, into Truckee, down the western side of Lake Tahoe, around Emerald Bay, through South Lake Tahoe, down the eastern slopes of the mountains, through Carson City, into the silver-rich hills of Virginia City, and finally returning to downtown Reno has become popular event in the running community and sees a full attendance every year.

For the third year in a row, I'm running the relay with an amazing double-team called Nice Asphalt and Nice Asphalt Too. The last two years were truly amazing experiences and though we have a number of new runners this year on the team, I expect this weekend will be no different.

Planning began several months ago as our terrific captains, Jamie and Kristen began putting together the rosters, assigning legs, reserving vans, finding accommodations, and the general logistics of such an endeavor. The effort these two put into organizing this group of 24 crazy runners into a well-oil machine for the relay blows my mind every time we do it. They handle it with grace and style every year and we are all so very thankful to them for the work the do to ensure a great time is had by all.

As race-day approached, we met at Kim's, another three-time member, home to decorate and pack our two 15-passenger vans for the long journey. We comment about how new the vans smell (one of them only had 164 miles on the odometer) and how terrible they will smell in 48-hours after twelve sweaty, stinky, tired runners have lived in them for a period of between twenty and thirty hours. Unfortunately, I was only able to stay and visit with my team for a short time due to conflicting plans Thursday evening. As I will later learn, one of our other three-time runners, Raj, had a family emergency and will be unable to run, leaving us a runner down. But as always, our captains have figured out a plan to divide Raj's three legs among our remaining runners to get the miles covered.

To start the race, we arrived at Kristen's at 7:30 Friday morning to drop our cars and board our white conveyance. We drive over to the starting line at Wingfield Park. Both vans (all 23-runners) always attend the start to see our first runners kick off the event. For the first time this year, I'm one of those two first-runners, with first-timer Jasmine filling the second spot. As we stretch and attach our bibs in preparation for our quick 4.8 mile leg along the Truckee River west out of downtown Reno, our Team-members encourage us and psyche us up for the task at hand.

For our 8:45 start, we line up at the starting arch and as the countdown reaches GO, we take off out of the gate. I've unfortunately been fighting off a cold for the past few days and while I've been training pretty hard this year for this and other upcoming races, I can feel the congestion in my lungs preventing me from full lung capacity. Hopefully, it won't hinder my running too much. 

As always, it takes me a mile or so to get into my pace and breathing rhythm. As we will be running nearly fifteen miles together over the next 24-hours, Jasmine and I take this time to get to know each other a bit. Luckily, it's a nice cool morning - perfect temperatures for running. We quickly depart downtown and cross under the McCarran Loop on the western side of town, finally reaching our exchange at the far end of Mayberry Park. We slap the bracelet-batons onto our leg two Runners, Kristen and Ali, and take a couple of minutes to re-hydrate and cool down before hoping into the van and continuing on our journey. Leg 1 done!

Over the next five or so hours, we follow our active runners in the van doing our best to keep them hydrated and encouraged as they each run their first leg in turn. The country side we travel through is, as always, breathtaking. It's easy to take these mountain views for granted after having lived here for so long, but moving at a runner's pace as opposed to flashing through this area in a car, forces one to take in all of the vistas and glory of this part of the world.

Finally arriving at the first van exchange near the Boca Reservoir, we watch as our runners number 6, Kim and Amanda, reach the exchange point and hand off to runners number 7, Ryan and Chris. For a little while at least, the burden and the baton has been passed to van 2. Now we, the runners in van 1, will go to rest and re-energize. We have made arrangements to spend a few hours at a campground clubhouse a few miles from the trail. We quickly unpack some supplies and head into the picnic area to enjoy some well-earned lunch. I take advantage of the facilities shower before trying to catch a short nap on a couch. While I'm not all that tired yet, I know that I will need all the sleep I can get over the next day or so. As we get a text from van 1 that they are nearing the start of leg 11, we repack the van and head to Homewood to make our next leap frog over them.

The Homewood Mountain Resort, sitting on the western shore of Lake Tahoe, has long been the second van exchange. As Jasmine and I prepare for our next section, leg 13, we encounter numerous friends on other teams, all competing for the glory of this mighty race. This section, our most difficult, is 6.2 miles with numerous ups and downs and sections with little or now shoulder to run on. The approaching darkness also adds an additional obstacle. Wisely, the race administrators require the use of numerous lighting and reflective devices for the active runner as we travel these dangerous roads at night.

As runners 12, Tina and Kara, reach the exchange and slap the bracelet-baton's onto our wrists, Jasmine and I take off to cheers from the couple of hundred onlookers. Luckily, it's not quite dark yet and we can enjoy some of these beautiful views of the lake as we run our miles. The cool evening air makes for pleasant running. I admit that the hills on this section are really taxing my breathing and this cold affecting my lung capacity, make me struggle a fair amount. Jasmine is understanding, which I appreciate.

Darkness now fills the sky and our headlamps illuminate our way, and as we reach the exchange point, we're both pretty taxed. We hand off to our next runners and take some much needed rest. These next legs are some of the most beautiful, but unfortunately, we are only able to catch glimpses due to traveling these sections at night.

As we cycle through the van and each run our turn, we do our best to support them with layers (on or off), water, cheers of encouragement, and just ensuring they are having fun. Finally, it's time to meet up with van 2 once again, this time at the South Lake Tahoe Raley's parking lot. Though it's about 2 am, most of the stores near the Raley's (Starbucks, McDonald's, Taco Bell, etc.) remain open for business. Whether it's from a sense of profit-making or merely to support the event, the runners don't care as three thousand of us in-turn visit the establishments and take advantage of coffee, tacos, french fries - whatever keeps us going.

Now that we've again passed the burden, we had to our hotel rooms in Carson City near the next van exchange. While we won't get much sleep, even a couple of hours is much appreciated. We shuffle into a four hotel rooms and almost immediately crash on the beds, furniture, and floor. Any rest is good rest, but when the wake up calls come just before 5 am, we all reluctantly wake and get ready to go. 

We load the van and take off for the Carson City Wal-mart, the next van exchange. I'm in super light-weight day-running gear as I exit the van. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr . . . . though it says the air temperature is 47 degrees, it feels much colder and I'm freezing my _____ off out here. Luckily, the leg 24 runners are quickly approaching and soon, Jasmine and I will take off on our next section. Leg 25 is an easy 3.3 miles through southern Carson City.

The hand-off made, we begin our final run of this RTO. Our route zigs and zags through neighborhoods and business areas as we begin to warm up. Very quickly, we go from freezing to burning up, as the sun rises and casts a blanket of warmth across the valley. After a mile or so, I get a major cramp in my left foot. It hurts like hell, but as this is my last leg, I refuse to let it slow me down. We continue to push and finally reach our last exchange. We hand off to Kristen and Ali before we embrace triumphantly! Our part of the the race is complete!

As our runners make their way through Carson City, out highway 50, and into the hills of Virginia City, we do our best to keep them cool and hydrated. The temperatures, while cooler than this time last year, are still a scorcher and some of these hills are massive and unrelenting. Finally, our last runners from van 1 reach the van exchange in front of the Bucket of Blood Saloon on the main drag of Virginia City. The bracelet-batons are exchanged and our runners from van 1 wander into the bar for a much-needed drink. 

Our work here essentially done, we take a few minutes to bask in the glory, before heading off to provide double van-support to the van 2 runners as they run through the hottest part of he day. We catch up with the van runners just at the end of leg 33 and from that point forward play leap frog with van 2 as we continually keep the active runners soaked from water-gun fire. It may sound like a game and while it is fun, it's much more about preventing the runners from over-heating.

As the runner's start the final part of the relay, leg 36, we head to the finish line at Idlewild Park. We quickly make our way out of the van and to the entrance of the park, where the entire team will join the active runners the last 50 or so yards to run across the finish line. As we see Tina and Kara approach, we line up and begin the jog to destiny. Cheers from the hundreds of people at the finish-line celebration ring out as all 23-of us run across the finish line. It's in the books - we've completed the 2018 Reno-Tahoe Odyssey!