Reno Tahoe Odyssey

My RTO team, "Emergency Landing"

This weekend, I completed my first Reno Tahoe Odyssey ("RTO")! The RTO is a 12 person relay race in which you travel 178 miles from Reno, up through the mountains and around Lake Tahoe, down to Carson City, up to Virginia City, and end up back down in Reno.  All of this takes around 30 hours from start to finish.  The experience is kind of like an endurance race, a road trip, a camping trip, and a quest rolled into one.   I'm going to write up the play by play to give you an idea what it's like.

A Day(s) at the RTO:

9:15 am - My team met at the starting line in downtown Reno to send off the first runner, then my half of the group ("Van 2") went back to a house to decorate and load up our van, as our team's legs didn't start until the afternoon.  For those who have run races before, it feels strange to wake up all psyched to run a race and then have most of the day ahead of you before you actually start running.  After lunch, our van set off.

2:30 pm - This is when Van 2's first active section began.  When your van is on, you are either running, driving, navigating, cheering, getting ready to run, or recovering from running.  Each active section lasts for around 5 hours.  

4:30 pm - Because I was runner #10 out of 12, this is when I ran my first leg.  I ran my first 5 miles through Squaw Valley, along the Truckee River and up in the mountains near Tahoe.  This has got to be one of the most beautiful places in the entire world and it felt amazing to be out running in such a beautiful spot.  Your legs are still fresh on the first leg and you feel happy to be alive and up in Tahoe and part of it all.  The first run also helps get the nerves out and makes you feel like things are really underway.

5:20 pm - I finished my first leg and realized that I was sweaty and there was no place to shower and I would be sitting in a van with people for the next dozens of hours - so you figure out how to get cleaned up on the fly with baby wipes.  Everyone brings several changes of clothes to stay clean and deal with the changing weather.  There is also not time to stop and eat restaurant food, so you bring what you want to eat in the car - lots of nutrition bars, fruit, bagels with peanut butter - that kind of thing.  

7:30 pm - My van all finished their first legs, and we drove on to try to find a place to nap until our next round of running.  The sun was setting over Emerald Bay at this point, and the moon was huge, and we got to drive around a stunning vista as we made our way to the next exchange point at South Lake Tahoe.  We stopped in a strip mall in town and laid out our sleeping bags on some grass to try to sleep for a couple hours.  Everyone walking by had comments and jokes, and many thought it was funny to tell us the sprinklers were about to go off.  At one point, someone in a jeep drove back and forth blasting ice cream truck music, presumably to mock us?  Not a lot of sleep happening.   At 11: 15, we roll up the sleeping bags and hit the road again.

1:30 am - My turn to run my second leg, which was 6 miles in Genoa.  Everyone has at least one middle of the night run, which is what causes many of us (definitely myself included) to pause before signing up for this race.  It sounds exhausting and scary and a little crazy.  But actually, this was my favorite leg, because it's so unlike any run I've ever done before: out under the huge night sky, feeling small under the stars, feeling a little mad from sleep deprivation, enjoying the bluegrass music and the peaceful highway and the cows mooing at 2 am.  The air is so nice and cool.  I never would've guessed it, but the middle of the night run is a highlight of this race.

3:45 am - My van finished their second active portion and drove on to Virginia City for 3 more attempted hours of sleep.  We found a parking lot and laid out our sleeping bags there.  Still not super comfortable, but it was much quieter than the last napping spot, and we were more exhausted after 11 miles of running.  Got some actual sleep here, then woke for the sunrise and final active portion.  

8:30 am - My final run was 5 miles in the suburbs of South Reno.  At this point, everyone is sleep deprived and has put at least 10 challenging miles on their legs, and the sun is coming back up and the heat is rising.  This is the Let's-See-What-You're-Made-Of leg.  The one and only thing that's fun about it is that you have to rise to the challenge of making it through - and that IS actually super fun, especially that moment where you tag the next runner and see that you've done the thing you weren't sure you could do.

11:50 pm - Finish line!  All twelve runners back together to run the last few steps through the arch together, then photos and hugs.  Then home for showers and food and sleep!

(pic) Questions I Had Before the Race:

• How does this compare to a half marathon?  This really depends on which runner you are.  My legs were pretty flat, and although it was 16 combined miles, they were broken up so much that it felt easier.  I had wondered if sitting around in a van would make our legs get stiff and sore, but the extra time to rest and stretch and fuel / hydrate was more of a help than a hindrance.  If you had one of the really challenging legs with huge uphills and downhills, I imagine the answer might be different.
• Would I enjoy this if I'm not a runner?  There is a lot more to this race than just the running part - the team aspect, the celebratory feel of all the exchange points, the puzzle of figuring out where you're going next and when to get there and when and how to sleep - but at the heart of it is still running.  To do this race right, you should train similar to preparing for a half marathon with hills, which is a lot of running.  And if you don't train, this is going to be a super hard and painful experience.  You don't have to "be" a runner (whatever that means), but you should pose as one for the months leading up to it if you want this race to be enjoyable.  
• That's a lot of time with people - would I like this if I'm an introvert?  I'm an introvert, as were many in my van.  It's not a bunch of draining small talk.  It's more like being on a mission together and figuring things out as you go, which I think can be fun for introverts and extroverts alike, and when you're not busy doing that, you're trying to grab some sleep.  
• How do you feel the next day?  A little sore.  A lot tired.  Extremely happy that you did it and get to have the memory of this amazing experience forever.

If this sounds fun at all, you should do it!  Shout out to our captain Megan, for putting together a great team to run and travel with!