The weather gods smiled on the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Runs, July 16, once again as we enjoyed perfect weather for the 15th edition of this scenic and challenging course on the Carson Mountain Range on the east shore of Lake Tahoe Nevada.
In the 100 mile race, a young man from Fort Collins, CO, John Fitzgerald came out of the gate strong and led the field of 230 through the first 50 miles with Adam Zastrow of Oakland CA in tow. Jesse Haynes of Capistrano Beach CA trailed in third at the 50 mile split and looked ragged only three weeks from a top 10 performance at Western States. Urged on by his wife and crew, Jesse finally found his happy place and moved into the lead 6 miles later. Running without a pacer, Haynes continued to build on that lead and cruised home with 65 minutes in hand to take his first ever 100 mile victory with a time of 19:36:49. His wife, Keira Henninger, told me while waiting at the finish line that he was obsessed with the TRT hand-made buckle and was blown way to earn the very special champions buckle.
Zastrow ran an amazingly consistent race to finish second in 20:41:54 and Adam Camarena of Reno NV ran a very strong second 50 mile split to came home third in 20:44:41.
In the Women’s race it was all about the ever young Roxanne Woodhouse. The 53 year old from Weaverville CA ran to her third TRT 100 victory in six races here. She also has a 2nd and a 3rd and one off year in 5th. All of her victories have been in 22 to 23 hours which are very fast times for women on this course.
Jenelle Potvin of Truckee CA has had some great runs at the TRT 100 and on this day she ran consistent to finish second with a time of 24:28:36. Kimberly White of Auburn CA finished a strong third in 26:25:52.
In the 100 mile though it was all about the first person to reach 1000 miles of the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Mile. Chet Fairbank 43 of Washoe Valley NV became the first to earn a 10-times finisher buckle with the finish line lined with people chanting, Chet, Chet, Chet. A huge accomplishment and congratulations to him and his family.
The 50 mile featured closely fought battles in both the men’s and women’s races. Chris Streeter of Auburn CA fought off the challenges of Remi Delille and Fernando Blanco and Mike Eimers to win with a time of 8:54:00. All top four men finished within 30 minutes. The women’s battle was even fiercer as 27 year old Cate Airoldi of Ashland OR fought off the local gal from Stateline NV Lyndsey Bednar to win in 9:31:10 and Bednar in 9:38:17. Bree Lambert 48 of San Jose showed she can hang with the young girls to finish third in 10:01:14.
In the 55K it was all local man Ryan Weibel of South Lake Tahoe CA running out front unchallenged to win in 5:19:08. Lee McKinley of Granite Bay CA was second in 5:56:29. The girls from Oregon came down to dominate as Amber Singh held off an incredibly close battle among the top three to win in 6:09:58 and take third overall. Close behind and only 37 seconds apart were Yuliya Bozhko of San Francisco CA and Diona Fulton of Santa Barbara to finish 4th and 5th overall respectively.
Of note, there was a large local contingent represented in all three races! Congratulations to all these locals, some TMM members, some not, all from the Reno, Carson and Tahoe areas, who finished the 100 Mile Run: Adam Camarena, Jenelle Potvin, Chris Barber, Jason Laurie, Jill Anderson, Rojer Markesen, Brandon Dey, Roger Pynappel, EJ Maldonado, Candice Burt, Chet Fairbank, Kevin Bigley, Bill Andrews, Jeffrey Conner, Robert Johnson, Michelle Edmonson. 50 miler finishers: Eric Middleton, Alex Tolger, Noah Reynolds, JP Prince, Derek Beenfeldt, Andy Starostka, Sara Holm, John Appert, Jeff Brown, Craig Petersen, Kyle Shade, Lacey Ferking, Brad Altman, Cheryl Lloyd, Janice Pilkington, Avril Harcourt, Jeremy Roberts.55K finishers: Ryan Weibel, Joe Thornburg, Kevin Peterson, Jason Tollmann, Alison Eckholm, Cory Avery, Emma Herron, Diane Frederic, Chris Smallcomb, Mick Keane, Clare Davison, Nancy Davison, Stephanie Nistler, Amy Tang, Makaela Bigley, Blake Boles, Alyx Colburn, Jill Trent, Al Maestas, Molly Sheridan, Rick Cartier, Emily Dodd.
A quick and heartfelt thank you to all our volunteers that help make the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Runs one of the most memorable races in the country. To the University of Nevada School of Medicine Sport Fellowship that provide the best medical attention of any race, and to the Nevada State Park Spooner Lake and the US Forest Service Lake Tahoe Management District that permit us to run on these beautiful trails.
The 2017 edition will be held on July 15-16, 2017 and the lottery to entry to the race will open December 4th, 2016 on Ultra Signup.
Click here for more George Ruiz photos.
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