Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Report

by Bill (The Trailgeeze) Rumbaugh “A Glimpse of Heaven, A Taste of Hell” July 19-20, 2008 Much of the Friday before an event like this is consumed with final preparations. There was the medical check-in, packet pick up, mandatory pre-race briefing and then the traditional pre-race pasta dinner, which was to be held in a downtown Carson City eatery, B’sghetti’s. There was such a crowd this year that they decided to cart the whole thing 2 blocks to the State Capitol grounds where the check-in and pre-race briefing had been held. The presence of abundant shade, moderate temperatures and low humidity made this a fairly pleasant option, probably better than an overcrowded restaurant, actually. All went well, I chatted briefly with some of the other NTTRer’s in attendance ñ Lethal Letha Cruthirds (who signed up for the 100 miler) and Mike Potter (50 mi) and spied Linda Boggs (50k) and Deborah Sexton (50 mi) as we were headed to the car. Also saw Davy Crockett (without his coonskin cap) and Catra Corbett (with her orange/pink hair highlights and numerous tattoos, who could miss her). There were some 40 additional entrants from the cancelled Western States Endurance Run who were allowed to participate by special permission. The list of “who’s in” was not updated, so I did not know who any of them were, or what the final count was. I would guess that their presence upped the percentage of stronger runners over the typical mix. Besides who else is running, the other unknown was the extent of the smoke from the forest fires in the area. Reports had varied significantly over the week prior. There were no fires in the Tahoe basin, so it was presumed that the race would continue and that we would deal with whatever the smoke conditions were. There was considerable haze when we arrived on Monday, but a late afternoon shower settled the air and it was clearer in the subsequent days. view PDF with pictures