Candice's vision: A 200-mile race up and down mountains: The Tahoe 200

The reason we drove through the Boise National Forest and Humbolt National Forest was to get to Lake Tahoe.

And the reason we wanted to get to Lake Tahoe was to volunteer in whatever way we could to help make the Tahoe 200 a reality. 

Candice is a long-distance runner.  She's good at it, winning races of 100 miles, placing high in other races of 100 miles.

And then a year ago, she got the inspiration to design a 200-mile race around Lake Tahoe.  Now, who in their right mind would sign up for a 200-mile race up and down mountain slopes?  Well, about 200 people did.  And we met a lot of them, and I have to report that they all seem to be in their right mind.

One impressive aspect of this undertaking, something obvious right away, is the quiet competence of the people who organized the race.  It's not like Candice could just go to the start line and say:  "Run around the lake, and whoever is back first wins!"  Instead, it required massive planning.

When you run through a National Forest, you have to get permits.  I guess Candice could have rounded up a bunch of people with guns, like Cliven Bundy did, and tell law enforcement officials for public lands that if they try to manage these public lands for the greater good that they would shoot them, but I already told you that the people designing this race were not out of their minds.  So, golly gee, they tried to obey the laws and rules.  There are people who feel powerful when they can be victims and show off with their guns, and there are people who feel powerful because they are powerful.

So, there were a lot of rules and regulations to work around.

And for any long-distance race, one doesn't just point to a trail and say to runners:  "go there and come back around the lake the other way." The entire trail has to be marked, so runners won't get lost.  This required an incredible crew of hardy people who would run the entire trail and mark it every few feet.

During our hikes in the area we frequently ran across signs and markers that the race organizers provided. It was fun to see them:

 
 
 
 

 

It was a supported race, meaning that there were stations all along the route where runners could get food, drink, and sleep.  Some of those aid stations were far away from any roads, so for some the supplies had to be carried in.

There were medical personnel.  There are some physical risks of this kind of race, and every attention was paid to minimizing those risks and to how to monitor runners in case someone got into trouble.

All told, the race involved well over 100 volunteers to make it happen.

So, what could two 60-somethings do, given so much of the preparation required more physical skills than we had and, because we had never run a race like this, more knowledge than we had?

Easy.  We did what we have done for years.  We made food and sold things!  Wore us out.  :)


 

We stayed in our camper outside the house Candice rented that served as HQ.  During the day, everyone would split to go do their jobs, and so we hiked in the hills.  Had some nice hikes.  Then, in the afternoons, we would make food for everyone for when they returned.

In the evenings, the group met around the dining room table and planned,  and emailed, and texted.  I couldn't imagine how a race like this could be planned and executed without the internet.  Was it really all that long ago that everything was done with postal service and telephones?

 
 
 


 

It was fun.  We enjoyed eavesdropping on their conversations, and learning about how something like this was executed.

One thing we learned about was the attention given to the "sweepers."  These are the volunteers who basically run the race behind the actual runners and clean up everything.  They pick up all of the trail markers and signs, plus any debris the runners accidentally leave behind.  The goal is to leave the trail at least as good as it was before the race.  

Then, the day before the race, we assisted with registration and handled sales of the "merch" (racing term for merchandise).  Got to meet a lot of the folks running in the race.  Boy were they ever pumped up!

 

 
     (see the flags?  One representing each country represented in the race.  People came from all around the globe)

 

 



Then, the next day was the big one.  People lined up and, at 10:00 a.m. sharp, headed out.  Quite exciting.  We both sort of wished we were heading out with them, talking a lot about whether we could have done something like this before age and arthritis caught up with us.  We'll never know, but I do know we were envious as we saw the runners starting out.  We wanted them all to finish.

Candice at the start line:

 

  There they go!!!



Unfortunately for us, we could not stay to watch any of them finish.  I had to get back home to have my shoulder surgery.  We wanted to be there to see the runners' joy at crossing the finish line.

200 miles.  Inconceivable, isn't it?

And, of course, being Candice's mom, Vicky was glowing with pride the entire time.  Why shouldn't she be?