Reno Tahoe Odyssey 2011

On June 3 and 4 I ran the Reno Tahoe Odyssey, a 178 mile relay race that starts in Reno and finishes in Reno and in between passes through Truckee, Tahoe City, South Shore, Genoa, and Virginia City.  It begins and ends at 4490 feet and reaches a maximum elevation of 7334.  There are several majorly steep climbs.  This was my second time running the RTO.  This year I was runner 11, running legs 11, 23, and 35 for a total of 17.7 miles. 

Our team, the Super Vixens and Super Villains, was super-fun and just like the first time I did this (2009), I had a blast!  We run a double team (2 teams of 12 runners), so you never run alone.  This year I recruited my buddy Jeremy Reichenberg to run on our team and he was a very patient running partner, despite my IT band/knee issues that has me nearly crying and/or running very slow at parts of the race. 

The RTO requires lots of logistics planning because it takes less-than-fast teams like ours more than 24 hours to finish.  You must coordinate regarding the exchange points (obviously) but also regarding transportation (thank you to my in-laws for lending us the 15 passenger van), naps (we rested for a couple of hours at my parents' cabin - Thank You! - and a couple of hours at a swell Super 8 in Carson City), food (including this year, for Lucy, as I'm still nursing), multiple wardrobe changes (unless you really want to smell), and nighttime running gear such as reflective vests, headlamps, etc.  We had many leaders on the team but notable were Liz Welsh, Andrea Travella and Rob Robbins.  Thanks!  Thank you also to my wonderful husband who met me at the end of my first leg with our smiling baby and was our advance man to unlock and warm up the cabin.  Here are some photos from our Odyssey:

Van 2 at an exchange point in Truckee!  Luke (who drank milk and PBR before running), Rob, Meghan, Danny, Matt, Crystal, Sean, Windy, Andrea, Jeremy, Courtney, Aaron.  Not pictured, photographer Marco.

Luke and Rob tackle the final hill of Leg 7.

Jeremy working race support for Matt.

With Jeremy before our first leg.

Running along the meandering Truckee river.

Running through Tahoe National Forest, Leg 11.

Sean Savoy, so fast the camera could barely catch this!

The Lake at dusk, from the North Shore.

Danny and Jeremy at nighttime exchange point.

Marco getting ready for the exchange.

The view from Genoa at dawn.

 

 

 

Andrea handing off to Aaron in south Reno.

Grinning and bearing it in South Reno. Leg 35.

Hobbling up Longley Lane, Leg 35.

Meghan shows off her bandaged wounds from her tumble down Geiger grade.  Nurse Marco (pictured in the background) was on hand to make sure she was properly treated.

Final runners Windy and Sean get some team love during their last leg, which passed by Virginia Lake.

The entire team running in to the finish at Idlewild Park.

The entire team (or most of us) at the finish line, plus a couple of  babies and a dog.