Sean, Hayes, and Rocky Rock the Reno Marathon!

During the Tahoe Triple in 2007, Sean and Rocky (then 12 and 10 years old) ran a half marathon and after recovering from that, Sean said that he would like to finish a marathon before his 16th birthday. About 4 months ago, Sean and his friend Hayes (17) decided to start training seriously for a marathon and asked me to coach them. Rocky joined in for the fun as well (he was going to try to run a faster half marathon this time) and before long some of their friends joined in and we now have a complete local relay team for the upcoming Tahoe Relay.

Police Escort at the Start of the Reno Rock 'n River Marathon

We looked around for a marathon, with the following criteria in mind:

• Flat-ish
• Not too expensive
• Close to home

At first we decided on the River City marathon (my favorite), but found out that the date had moved up this year, so we would not have enough time to train. Then we found the Reno Rock 'n River Marathon on May 1st and after reading Gretchen's race report we decided we would try that one for a first marathon, just a few weeks after Sean's 16th birthday.

Rocky and Turi "Running Around Reno" Becker at the Start

The day before the race we went to the expo to pick up the race bibs. While there, we ran into Angel (Tahoe Triple RD) and we convinced a few people to sign up for the Tahoe marathons ;-) Pasta dinner at the Olive Garden tasted good and after that we went to bed early.

With Austin Angel in the Tahoe Booth at the Expo

The next morning, after months of solid training, including several nice long runs, and some almost-injuries, it was time to run! It was going to be a nice day: cold at the start, but not too hot later on. We caught up with Turi at the start, which was fun. Turi went on to break his own half-marathon record, paced by the lightning-fast Chris (1:28:12)--Go Turi! One person we half-expected to see at the start was the infamous Lynryd Skynrod, but he was missing in action.

Rocky at the Start

The marathon started at 6:30 a.m. and the half marathon started at 7. It was still very cold, but that would help later on. Sean and Rocky made good time, sticking to the 1-minute walk breaks after each mile that I had been telling them to take. We found a spot on the course where they would all pass several times and saw Turi, Chris, Sean, Hayes, and Rocky fly by several times.

The Easy Early Miles

Rocky came through at the 7 mile point at 1:35, feeling good. I estimated that it would take him at least another hour to make it back to the finish, but when we arrived (we stopped for a coffee and could not park right at the finish) we found out that he had already finished in 2:23! Sorry we missed that Rocky, but very happy you were able to crank up the pace to finish that strong! Rocky's finish time was good for a third place in the 11-15 age group and he received a nice big age group medal--this race is pretty serious about their hardware!

What's on the Other Side of "The Wall?"

We quickly drove to the Rock Park aid station at mile 23 and waited there for Sean and Hayes. All of the marathoners go through this aid station in both directions, but almost everyone had already passed on the way out. We did not know what to expect--finishing was the only goal for the day, but based on previous long runs, we were thinking of a finish time in the 5:15-5:30 range.

Proud Finishers

All of a sudden, they came around the corner, well ahead of this pace. This was mile 23 and both of them were clearly hitting the wall, but determined to keep pushing. A short walking break just enough to swallow a final gel, and they were off again. 3 miles to go with 45 minutes left to break 5 hours--the race was on! We quickly drove to the finish and waited there.

The Finish

Sure enough, with plenty of time to spare, they came running down the final straightaway. They must have even passed a few "bogeys" in the last few miles. They finished at exactly the same time in 4:48--good enough for a shared 2nd place in the 15-19 age group--more medals.

The Post-Race Meal

I'm obviously very proud of them. It was a great accomplishment and we celebrated with a very well-deserved, big meal before driving back home to rest and ice the legs. Thanks to all the volunteers for putting together a very runnable marathon!

Blast from the Past: Sean and Rocky Finish the Lake Tahoe Half Marathon in 2007

Next Up: The Tahoe Relay! Our team name is "The Extreme Falcons" ;-)

2010 in Review: Another Kind of Ultra

My new "HTML5" license plates

Sorry about the lack of posts this year, but 2010 has been another kind of ultra marathon for me. As I mentioned at the end of 2009, it was time to write a book and this year, at the end of August, on my grandmother's birthday--my co-authors Brian, Frank, and I finally finished this massive project:

Pro HTML5 Programming is one of the first books about HTML5, which is the next major revision of HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) the language that all web pages--including this blog page--are written in. The HTML standard had not really been updated for 10 years, so it was due for a major update. HTML5 is really cool and it has many exciting and powerful features, some of which are starting to appear on web pages already.

Many people compare writing a book to running a marathon, but after finishing the book, I can honestly say I completely agree with Gretchen, who recently wrote (in a post about marathon metaphors): "Obviously, most authors don’t realize how easy running a marathon really is! Because, seriously? Finishing a book? Way, way harder."

As if writing the book itself was not enough (we wrote the book "on he side," on top of all our "regular" startup job work ), I also created a complete HTML5 training course based on the new knowledge gathered by writing the book and the timing for the course was just right. When the iPad was launched and Apple, Google, Mozilla, Opera, and even Microsoft (how often can those companies agree on anything?) decided that HTML5 was the future, the demand for HTML5 training skyrocketed, mainly, because our training course was, well... the first official training course in the world! We even partnered with Google to train their partners in preparation of the launch of the Google Chrome Web Store (featuring lots of cool HTML5-based web apps).

The rest of 2010, I spent traveling to all the corners of the earth--to cities like New York, London, Paris, Lisbon, Taipei, San Antonio, Vancouver, and Stockholm to name but a few--teaching training sessions and speaking at web conferences. In total, I traveled over 100,000 miles with United Airlines in just 6 months, stayed 97 nights at Hilton brand hotels and lots more at other chains, met lots of great people, and tried all kinds of great new food.

Apart from being away from home so much, I truly had a blast and look forward to visiting a lot more places in 2011. Next year, I will bring my running shoes. I hope to run into some of you somewhere along the way (Connect via LinkedIn or TripIt).

Since I had less running-related stories to tell (I did use some running examples in the book) and just less time to write period, I started posting more frequently on Twitter--you can follow me there at @peterlubbers. I am going to start training again in the new year and plan to be back in good shape for the Super Triple in September. Along the way, I'll keep you posted! For now I am enjoying a few weeks of relaxing vacation at home and in the snow with the kids.

Happy New Year everybody!

Ready to Roll! (Tahoe Super Triple 2009 Edition)

Well, it's that time of year again. Time for our annual running party! I'm excited and looking forward to another Tahoe Super Triple. Chris, Rebecca, and Troy will be crewing again and Vicky and the kids will join us on Friday afternoon (and she promised that she would cook her famous spaghetti and buffalo meatballs pre-race dinner!)

All Set!

I'll try to post some updates over the weekend and send me those positive vibes!

The Lake of the Sky Marathon "Training Run"

I suppose the subtitle of this blog post could be "How a training run turned into a race." On top of that it turned into a race against... my own imagination.

With two weeks to go before the Super Triple, it was time for a final long run at elevation, and as luck would have it, the Lake of the Sky Trail Runs, which is part of the ultrarunner.net series, was held on Saturday.

Course Profile--The Marathon Had 4050' Elevation Gain and Loss (Courtesy of LOTS Website)

Matt Thau and Jethro Smith showed no signs of slowing down their pursuit of ultrarunner.net series points, so having missed the Hotter than Hell race in August due to a forest fire, it was important to pick up some points in this race. Also, it would be fun to chat with running friends, old and new.

I had run this section of the Tahoe Rim Trail before--once in the 2007 version of the Lake of the Sky 50K a week after the Super Triple and once during my TRT thru-run (mile 91-110)--and thoughts of this section were always associated with keywords like "pain," "suffering," "slow," and "exploding lungs." This time, of course, I was fresh, but I still had a healthy respect for the serious elevation changes on this section, especially the steep start.

Cruising Down My Favorite Trail (Photo by Turi)

My shoe choice for the race was, for once, an actual trail shoe--the Saucony Progrid Xodus. I had recently won a pair in Dave "Running Trails in Atlanta" Schoenberg's blog shoe give-away and this would be a good test. Typically, I run a lot of the trails in road shoes, but I knew this section of the TRT was going to be very rocky, so I wanted a little bit more support.

The Saucony Progrid Xodus After the Race (with Balega Socks, of Course)

The Xodus shoes are very light for a trail running shoe and they provide excellent cushioning and traction thanks to their super-grippy Vibram soles. I was really happy I picked these shoes and will definitely use them again for trail races.

Fellow TRT-165 Club Member Turi Becker (3rd in the Marathon) Before the Race

Just before the race started, I ran into Turi "Runnin' Round Reno" Becker, who is training for the Lake Tahoe Marathon in two weeks. Turi decided to run this race on a whim, instead of a self-supported training road run around the lake--a good choice (I think).

Like me, Turi was running "just-the-marathon." But wait, if that was the case, why did we have different bib colors? It was a good thing Turi noticed this, because I had accidentally been given a 50K bib. We straightened that out and it was time for the 7 a.m. start.

Turi at the Finish

I tried to start my Garmin Forerunner, but it would not cooperate. It has been harder and harder to start it lately, but I think it has finally died for good. No worries though, because my plan was to simply run a nice, easy long run--I did not really need any mile splits.

Second Place Marathon Finisher Jamie Cogley (Watch for his Son in Future Races!)

Close to 90 runners lined up for four different events: the 36-mile "50K," the Marathon, the 2-Person Marathon-Relay, and an 8-mile race. For the first 7 miles, I paced a while with female GP points leader Lainie Callahan-Mattoon, who had recently won the Hotter than Hell 6-Hour run. We caught up on our fall race plans. Lainie is signed up for the Sierra Nevada Endurance Run (a double marathon), which is one of my favorite races. The only problem with that race is that it is usually held on the same weekend as the Tahoe Triple. Good luck at SNER, Lainie!

Lainie Before the Race

I paced a few more miles with Alan and Caroline Barichievich from South Lake Tahoe--two very strong uphill runners--and after the second aid station (9 miles), I ran by myself to the turnaround at Watson Lake.

Alan and Caroline Barichievich from South Lake Tahoe

Before I reached the turnaround, I met two marathon runners that were already on their way back. One of them was Tahoe City's Chris Luberecki. I had seen Chris's name in a lot of local race results and it was nice to finally meet Chris in person.

Tahoe City's Chris Luberecki at the Finish

Chris was running in the relay with his wife Elisa, but unfortunately, she got lost on the way back. To my surprise, the volunteers at the Watson Lake aid station told me that I was the first non-relay marathoner on my way back. Mind you, this was a fairly small event with only about 20 runners in the marathon and about forty runners in the 36-miler.

The other runner I had met on my way to the turnaround had been part of Tyler Curley's winning relay team from Auburn (Their winning time was 3:57:59). Hmmm, running up front was not the plan. I was here to cruise in a training run, not to race. That said, there was only a half marathon left and I definitely had not gone out too fast...

Elisa at the Finish After Getting Lost for an Hour

I set my stopwatch to see how far I was ahead of the second and third place marathon runners and it looked like I had a 6-8 minute lead shortly after the turnaround--too close for comfort. I turned it up a notch and started going faster on the downhills and powerwalked the hills at a faster-than-normal pace. I knew that if I could make it to the 20-mile mark, or to the aid station at mile 22 in first place, I would have the win in the bag--I love downhill finishes--but I still had quite a few miles to go.

Ivy and Chuck After the Race

On my way back I ran into a runner going in the other direction. She shouted "I read your blog," but before I could register what she said, I was already 50 yards ahead. Thanks! I found out after the race that it had been Ivy "Strong Legs and Pancakes" Chastain--a runner from Reno whose running blog I've been following myself. Ivy is planning to run the entire TRT next year and she's scouting out a lot of the individual sections already.

Ray Sanchez and Tyler After the Race. Tyler Hill Ran his First Ultra and Finished Strong in 6th Overall (He Might be Hooked on Utras Now)

I kept looking over my shoulder every 5 to 10 minutes, but to my surprise there were no challengers. I cranked up the iPod with some tunes from my favorite DJ (and fellow Dutchman) Tiesto (his Club-Life podcasts, available on iTunes, are great, free, and great for running).

Sport Store Owner Jefff Halligan (2nd in the 8-mile race) and his Wife Jeni (50K) Came from Idaho to Run the Race

At the 22-mile aid station, I grabbed some water and a last gel and continued to rocket down the final downhill section, covering 4 miles in less than 27 minutes. Like I said, I love those downhill finishes! Speaking of which, can't we reverse the Rucky Chucky 50K (at least every other year)?

Gretchen at the Finish of the 50K

I stuck around a bit and watched the other runners finish. I talked to Jefff Halligan who had come up from Idaho for a training run and I also met Erin Lenzi, who was also running the relay with her husband as part of her final preparation for the Tahoe Triple (they came in second).

As it turned out, my looking over my shoulder had been completely unnecessary, because the next marathon runner showed up more than 40 minutes behind me. Oh well, it had been good motivation to get done quickly!

Wicked-Fast: 50K Winner (Doctor) Cameron Berg After the Race

I thoroughly enjoyed Linda's post-race buffet and talked to some of the other runners. Then decided to soak my legs in the lake and have a nice latte at Tahoe House Bakery, before heading home.

Thanks to Robert, Linda, and all the volunteers for the well-run event and special thanks to volunteer George, who spent 9 hours marking the course perfectly!

Next Up: The main event--The Tahoe Super Triple! Defending the title for the fourth time. Wish me luck!

Sub-3 at the River City Marathon!

On Sunday, I joined about 135 marathoners and around 225 half marathoners for the first annual River City Marathon/Half Marathon in Sacramento. This point-to-point race was held on the bike path along the American river from Negro Bar in Folsom to Discovery Park, close to downtown.

My one and only goal for this race was to break 3 hours for the first time. Training went well and at one point I was playing around with the idea of shooting for an even faster time, but I really wanted to "knock the bastard off" first, before attempting anything even faster only to hit the wall and miss both targets. Add to that a prediction of roughly 90-degree heat (the race started at 7, so the heat would only play a role in the last hour or so) and sub-3 would be challenging enough.

I did one 13-mile training run on the course two weeks prior to the start and I had run other sections of the trail in past Helen Klein 50K/50M races, so I knew what to expect: a flat and fast course.

The Finish

Prior to the race, I was fortunate to get training and racing advice from all kinds of great runners. Alan and Scott shared some of their training schedules and George Farmer and V. Neelakantan turned me on to some interesting training techniques such as the fast-finish progression long runs. Marathon Junkie Chuck Engle, who actually runs sub-3 pace teams, recommended not to bank seconds or minutes but instead shoot for dead-even splits all the way, with a 1:30 first half and so that's what I set out to do. I soaked up some final advice from Haile Gebrselassie and I was ready to go!

The marathon started promptly at 7 a.m. In the first 5 or 6 miles I moved from 12th place to 4th and then moved into 2nd place at the one and only climb of the course (a bridge over the American River). First place was out of sight at this point, but I could care less--I was just focusing on maintaining even 6:52 spits and any sort of placing would be a bonus.

I hit the half marathon at exactly 1:30 and had to weave my way through over 200 half marathoners. By mile 16 or 17 I caught up to the front runner, who had slowed down a bit. From here on I would be paced by the "lead-bike," operated by super-fast runner and volunteer Brad Lael, which was kind of exciting.

I continued to pick up some half marathoners and got into a great rhythm, always hovering right around 6:52. I chatted briefly with Brad, but then tried to focus on my breathing again. Vicky, Sean, and Rocky would meet me at the finish line and Sean had brought his bike and he met me with some Gatorade with about three miles to go, which was just what I needed. Two weeks earlier, Rocky had volunteered to crew for me on his bike for the entire marathon, but unfortunately he broke his arm snowboarding.

The Hardware...

Miles 18 thru 24 felt the easiest of the entire race for me, but I had to give it my all in the last two miles to make it under 3 hours. with 1 mile to go, I started speeding up in order to make sure I would not need yet another marathon to break 3 hours. I ran a 6:10 mile and knew I had it locked up when I made the last turn with the clock in sight. I almost missed the turn to the finish chute, but fortunately Rocky yelled out that I had to make a right turn off the bike path and I crossed the line with 10 seconds to spare (2:59:50)! Naturally, I was really excited about the time (mission accomplished) and it was a nice bonus to win the race overall, of course!

Nachos!--a nice second (or third) post race meal at Dos Coyotes in Folsom

Although the course is USATF certified for the distance, it appeared to be roughly 0.15 miles longer on my GPS watch and I heard others say the same. (distances ranged between 26.35 and 26.66). It turned out to be a hot day, so even though this was a fast and flat marathon, hats off to all the finishers (especially first-timers) who were out there in the heat for many hours! Thanks to Robert and Lisa Mathis for putting on another great event on a much larger scale than the usual ultras and to all the volunteers who came out to help.

Next Up: The Spring Run 10K in Nevada City on the 25th of April.

Meeting the Man with the Hammer at the Spijkenisse Marathon

I just found some time to post this story about the Spijkenisse Marathon. I ran this race while I was in Holland for work a few weeks ago. (I'll post a reply to Alan's blog-tag next week).

I happened to be in Holland and Belgium for work, so a quick look at Marathon Guide's international race calendar showed that the Spijkenisse Marathon would be held that weekend--of course my wife and kids did not believe me and maintains that I probably organized my entire trip around this marathon (Yes, I am sure the Devoxx conference organizers had this in mind as well)!

A Rare Double Rainbow Above My Parents' House in Amsterdam

Although it had been (mararaining the days before (very common in Holland), Sunday was going to be a nice dry day. This was the third annual marathon in the city of Spijkenisse organized by track club Spark. Spijkenisse is located close to Rotterdam in the Netherlands and my friend Bjorn and his wife from Crazy Pianos, who live pretty close to the course, graciously offered me a ride to the marathon start. There were over 700 people running different races (marathon, half marathon, and I think they also had a 10K). There were about 200 marathon participants.

As I found out during the 4x50K I participated in earlier this year, races in Holland tend to be a lot cheaper (This one was only about $22), but they don't give you any goodie bags, race T-shirts, etc. The entry fee still included a very nice medal, so I'd encourage the US marathons to follow the European lead--who needs those t-shirts anyway?

Photo Courtesy of Theo Peters

For work, we had a big release that coincided with our Europe trip, so I had been working almost around the clock for the ten days or so leading up to the marathon. Then, after getting off the airplane in Holland, I spend another day and another all-nighter to wrap things up. Needless to say, this was not going to be the sub-3 performance I had been training for.
With that in mind, I decided to just try to hold a 6:52 pace for as long as possible to get a feel for what it would be like to hold a sub-3 pace and not worry about the overall time. This would probably mean blowing up somewhere along the way, but there was nothing at stake, so it would be a good experiment.

And so, when the gun went off at 11:00 a.m (a great time to start a marathon on a cold day, by the way). I immediately tried to settle in to the right pace, but that was pretty hard. Instead, I was running between 6:30 and 6:40. The course was flat and it was hard to slow down any further. I passed the 10K mark in 40 minutes--definitely too fast.

The weather was great--it was pretty cold and not too windy. Many of the Dutch runners wore tights and I was one of the few wearing shorts. The course was very flat with the occasional up and down over a "dijk" (levee) or a bridge. What actually made the course challenging was the long stretches of "polder" (reclaimed land--yes, the saying God created the world, but the Dutch created Holland has some truth to it) that just went on and on and even though there was not a lot of wind, you could definitely notice it if you were running against it, because there were no trees or hills to protect you.

After the 10K mark, I started (unintentionally) slowing down a bit and I was finally hitting those 6:52 splits, but not for long. I passed the 20K mark in 1:23 and the half marathon in 1:28 and change, but I was slowing down even more. For a minute I thought I might be able to make it, but deep down I knew that the damage was already done--there was no way I could keep up the pace for another half, so maybe it was going to be 3:03 or 3:05. Things kept going well for a little while longer, but I was now running between 7:10 and 7:30 depending on the wind.

It was nice that the course was marked every kilometer. It made it feel like it went by very fast--there were just a lot more of them and doing the math started getting harder and harder as the marathon dragged on. Overall this was a perfectly-organized marathon. At 30K, I passed someone and got a little bit of a second wind, but a few kilometers later I finally ran out of fuel and I hit the wall. The aid stations (every 5K) only provided water and the Dutch version of Gatorade, but what I really needed to stay in the race was a gel or two. Unfortunately, I had left those at home.

The last part of the race started winding its way through the town of Spijkenisse, back to the track where we had started. A few very windy sections in the last three miles combined with a climb over a major bridge offered a meeting (and plenty of face time) with "de man met de hamer" (the man with the hammer), as the Dutch like to call "the wall." The runner that I had passed earlier sped by me like I was standing still and I did not have anything left. Going for a hold-the-pace-until-you-break strategy inevitably makes you run into a brick wall and does not make for many fun-filled final miles--I could not wait for this run to be over.

With aunt Maria and uncle Frank

As I turned onto the track, I looked behind me one more time and saw another competitor gaining on me. I sped up a little bit hold my position and after about 300 yards on the track I crossed the finish in 19th place overall in 3:12:08. Not bad, considering the circumstances. Also, this is a new PR and a Boston Qualifier, but still a long way from the elusive sub-3.

The Winners

My aunt and uncle (they took all the pictures for this post--thanks!) had come to the track to see me finish and I caught up with them after the marathon, which was great. It was a great time to be in Holland, because it was "Sint Nikolaas" (the Dutch version of Santa Claus) when I arrived (Dec. 5th). We had many chocolates and traditional holiday pastries, including my mom's famous apple pie.

Oma's Famous Apple Pie--Yum!

The winner of the marathon was the German runner Ralf Preibisch (2:32-CR) and Belgian runner Bart de Grove, who was very helpful in explaining the course to me prior to the race, came in second (2:42).

Next Up: Taking a little break now and will pick it up after the holidays again to try it once more (hopefully with more rest) in Redding (Jan 18).

Tahoe Super Triple Hat-Trick

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how about a short movie:


As you can see, this year's Tahoe Super Triple was a real blast!

I ran the first two days a little faster than expected. Really, I did not know what to expect, because I had not run any actual marathons since last year's Super Triple. I had noticed that my endurance had improved quite a bit since the big TRT-165 run; I was simply able to keep a good running form for a lot longer. I was also logging some fast training runs on paved roads with about 8% incline and I won the Draft Horse Classic 10K the weekend before the Super Triple. So, coming in I knew I would be faster, I just did not know how much faster.

With Chris at the Midnight Start

I felt recovered from the 165-mile run six weeks earlier (in fact, I had planned it with the Triple in mind) and this year, I did not run a 53-miler the week before the triple, but a major deadline at work had kept me working till deep in the night in the two weeks leading up to the race, preventing me from getting all the sleep I really needed. I guess there's always something, but at a minimum, I'd be used to doing something in the middle of the night!

The Start of the 72-Mile Race and the Last Leg of the Super Triple

I was surprised that, compared to last year's times, I was able to knock 22 minutes off of my first marathon time and 16 minutes off of my second marathon. As it turned out, I really needed to have those minutes in the bank for the final 72-miler, which came down to a duel with San Francisco's Jon Burg, who had run a fast time in the Vermont 100-miler (20 hours and change) only two months earlier.

Sean "4-Minute Mile" Meissner Can't Believe I am Wearing Tights

Jon had trouble with heel spurs during the first two marathons, but showed up fresh-as-a-daisy at the midnight start of the last leg--the 72-mile loop around Lake Tahoe. This year, I really wanted to make it to the 8:30 a.m. start of the regular Tahoe marathon. I had been unable to get there in the previous years and it is a bit demoralizing to just follow the trail of empty Gu-wrappers and water cups for the last 26 miles while the aid stations are being broken down just ahead of you.

Jon Burg, Going Strong

Still, covering 46 miles in 8.5 hours at night after two marathons is easier said than done. My aim was to go out very easy and run and power-walk the first 20 miles to Spooner Summit without ever pushing it. I watched Jon disappear into the dark. From one angle this felt a little bit risky, but on the other hand it was too early in the race to make any sudden moves, departing from the tried-and-true race strategy--so I decided to just stick to the game plan and get to the top of Spooner as planned.

Tony Torres (Three-Time Winner of the Tahoe Marathon)

I reached the Cave Rock tunnel at 2:00 a.m. and Spooner Summit at 3:15. Next was the long downhill to Incline Village. That went pretty well considering I was running in the middle of the night. I reached the highway (at the end of Lakeshore Blvd) at 5:40 and took a quick 5-minute break to change shoes and drink some coffee. With 2 hours and 45 minutes left and 13 miles to go to Tahoe City, it dawned on me that I was really going to make it by 8:30, even though Chris and Rebecca had been assuring me all along that I was on track.

I reached the 46-mile mark (the marathon start) at 8:13 and immediately took off for Pope Beach (Ultra runners don't have to wait here). Chris and Rebecca told me I was trailing Jon by 12 minutes.

Lynryd Skynrod Flies by at His Early 5:55/mile Pace

Soon the marathoners started passing me. First the front runners: Lynryd Skynrod and eventual winner Tony Torres, and then the two top-Triple runners: Marathon Junkie (Chuck Engle) and Blue Benadum. Chuck and Blue had two (or more?) glasses of wine the night before the race and they were flying. They would end up in 3rd and 8th place in the regular marathon and first and second in the 78-mile Tahoe Triple respectively. Way to go guys! Very impressive. I might just have to try that wine-and-race strategy soon!

Blue and Chuck With 20 Miles to Go

After the rabbits disappeared, a steady stream of runners passed by. The remainder of the race was accompanied by a constant stream of cheers and support from the crowd and the hundreds of fellow runners who passed by. Running those last 26 miles in a bright orange Super Triple singlet, I felt like a (minor) celebrity! Most runners that passed by actually seemed to know what the Triple and the Super Triple were and some people even wanted their picture taken!

We'll Get There Eventually!

reached the 50-mile point in 8:52 and noticed I was gaining on Jon--the gap was down to only 6 minutes. About four miles later, I finally caught up to Jon and we power-walked for several miles together. Jon had been running a very smart race and though I pride myself on being able to out-walk most of my opponents, it was immediately obvious to me that power-walking was also one of Jon's strengths. We were consistently walking faster than 5 miles an hour (between 11:30 and 12:00 miles) and even passing some of the slower runners. On a long, paved course like the Tahoe 72-Miler, that is a key ingredient to success.

Triple Finisher and Her Cute Dog "Cherrio"--Possibly the Only Dog that has Completed the Triple (There Should Be an Award for That)

Eventually I started running some of the steeper downhills again. Jon said he was going to walk the downhills due to some residual heel pain, so I slowly pulled away only to hit the "Hill from Hell." which forced the entire field to a crawl. Then, after the downhill from hell with one final uphill section to go to reach Inspiration Point, Jon caught up to me again, courtesy of Tylenol.

Paul Piplani, Drove to the Super Triple Race Start From Arizona And Heads Back Right After the Race (Wow!)

I assessed the situation. Having made it to the start before 8:30 and now having a 59-minute lead with 6 miles to go, I had the win locked up as long as I would just power-walk to the finish. At this point it was hard to find the motivation to race Jon to the finish. My body was telling me "Well, we gave you what you wanted (the 8:30 start and the overall win), so stop asking for more!"

Inspiration Point (Mile 0 and Mile 118)

Of course Jon and I were not aware that we were trailing the leader of the 72-mile ultra (the runners who were "just" running the 72-miler) by mere minutes. Apparently, the early leaders that were gunning for finishing in the neighborhood of 10 hours had dropped out of the race. (Sorry it did not go well for you this time, Sean). If we had known that, we might have shifted to a higher gear. As it turned out, Jon finished only one minute behind the 72-mile ultra winner, Randy van Dusen! (Next year, we need some walkie-talkies with up-to-date race intelligence!)

With 72-Mile Director Lucia Lake

I power-walked/ran to the finish and arrived in 13:39. Wow, another Super Triple done! I iced the legs in the lake and picked up the awards, which were on the beach this time (it was nice not to have to go to the casinos again for a change). We said goodbye to the new friends we had made over the last few days, stopped in Truckee for Pizza and beer and drove home for a good night's sleep.

Awards Ceremony--Reserving That Spot for Next Year!

A huge thank-you to Chris and Rebecca for crewing for me (and lots of other runners on the course) for the fourth straight year. You're awesome! Also a thanks R.D. Les Wright, Triple Director Austin "Heavenly" Angel, 72-Mile Run Director-Extraordinaire Lucia Lake, Barefoot Todd, and all the volunteers that made this race possible! Congratulations to the other Super Triple and Triple finishers--See you next year!

With Les Wright (RD)

Next up: The Run Through the Colors 10K in Nevada City on October 19th (to get one of those Sierra Club calendars!) and then, I am not quite sure yet, but I am thinking of running the San Francisco One Day 12 Hour run after that.