by David Cotter, RD and George Ruiz, Assistant RD
photos by Baldwyn Chieh, George Ruiz and Donald Buraglio
To be amazed or astonished is the English translation of “Maravilla.” That is how the day unfolded for 33-year-old Jorge Maravilla of Vallejo, California, as he patiently ran under control before taking the lead of the 2011 Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Mile Endurance Run, going on to win the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) National 100 Mile Trail Championship.
The race was the polar opposite of last year’s TRT Endurance Runs, which took place under blazing heat. This year’s event was run with frigid morning and nighttime temperatures and over numerous snowfields left from the record snow fall on the Carson Range of the Sierra Nevada. Runners were treated to numerous snowdrifts that were steep enough that volunteers cut steps into them to ensure safety and many runners talked of a snow slide that resembled a luge run. Daytime temperatures were longsleeve cool for many but nighttime and morning temperatures were at or below freezing on much of the course, chilling aid station volunteers and sending many runners into an almost hypothermic state.
Paul Hopwood set the early pace, holding a two-minute lead as he entered the Tunnel Creek aid station with the top six men and top three women all within 15 minutes. Coming into the Diamond Peak Lodge at the 30- mile split, Hopwood held onto a slim lead, with Jon Olsen, Thomas Reiss, Jacob Rydman, Jorge Maravilla and Simon Mtuy all within two minutes of each other and looking incredibly fresh. The women’s battle with past TRT champions Bree Lambert and Roxanne Woodhouse ensued with Lambert opening a nine-minute lead at Diamond Peak and Jennifer Benna within striking distance.
The big climb back to Tunnel Creek is where Olsen and Maravilla passed Hopwood for the lead and the pair would run together until the downhill section from Snow Valley Peak to the 50-mile aid station.
At the halfway mark the race could not have been closer as Olsen held a slim two-minute lead over Maravilla, Reiss and Rydman. Lambert opened a 30-minute lead over Woodhouse as Woodhouse battled stomach issues for about 30 miles and ultimately had to drop from the race at the 50- mile mark. Benna was slowly clawing her way into contention.
By the time Olsen hit Tunnel Creek at mile 61 it was a two-man race. It was on the uphill flume leading out of the Red House where Maravilla made his move.
“I have all the respect in the world for Jon and I was amazed to be running with him so late in the race and my legs still felt fresh. Jon said to go ahead and the trail was a runnable section so I really opened it up… On the sandy hill climb I climbed as hard as I possibly could, even running some of it to show Jon I had the legs,” Maravilla said.
By the time Maravilla arrived at the Diamond Peak aid station at mile 80 he had a 40-minute lead and looked fresh and excited. With 20 miles to go he blasted up the Diamond Peak climb for the final time. Maravilla cruised into the finish in 18:48:19 looking like he could go around again, and giving race director David Cotter a bear hug.
“This was my first 100 miler, I knew I could have a good race but with names like Jon Olsen and Thomas Reiss I just wanted to be sub-24 hour. As the race went on and the course and conditions begin to take a toll on the others I just felt strong and fresh the whole time. When I made my break in the Red House loop I opened a gap and never looked back. I’m so pleased to have won this spectacular race!”
Reiss ran an excellent 20:58:30 for second place and Olsen held onto third place with a time of 21:27:06.
As the men’s race was decided, the women’s race was just heating up. Jennifer Benna was steadily reeling in Bree Lambert. Down by 34 minutes at 50 miles, Benna had cut the lead to 20 minutes at mile 61 and eight minutes at mile 80. By the time they hit Tunnel Creek the final time at mile 85, Benna trailed by 13 seconds. “At Diamond Peak my stomach was starting to act up and I was told by my crew that Jen was closing in on me, which was not what I wanted to hear. On the climb up Diamond Peak I had a brief moment that I was hurting and thought, ‘Do I really want to push it to hold her off,’ and I was okay with second place. Then my safety runner, Rob Evans, said, ‘This is not okay, you are leading the race, you can do it.’ I took the rest of the climb to regroup mentally for the final push,” said Lambert.
“I was shocked to see Jen come into Tunnel Creek virtually on my heels. Lon Monroe handed me a cup of soup and said, ‘You have to get out of here.’ I really hammered the next two sections to Snow Valley Peak. I know the course very well and that helped. I was confident in my ability on downhill running to hold onto my lead.”
By Snow Valley Peak at mile 93, Lambert had opened a slight gap of three minutes. She finished in 23:07:43 with a 16-minute margin of victory, claiming her second TRT 100 win and second RRCA National Trail 100 Mile title. Benna, coming back from having her first child less than a year ago, arrived in an excellent condition and ran with great focus and patience to nearly pull off an upset. Nonetheless, a supurb effort to finish in sub-24 hour at 23:23:34. Susan Donnelly rounded out the top three with a finishing time of 30:59:05.
The Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Runs is in its 11th year for the 50-mile and 50-km and sixth year for the 100 mile. It is also the RRCA 50-mile and 50-km Nevada State Championships. There were 108 runners who toed the start line and 65 who finished, for a 60-percent finishing rate.
TRT From A Pacer’s Viewpoint
by Toshi Hosaka
What were you doing from 3:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. last Saturday?
Let me tell you what I was doing. I was hauling some serious ass with Sean Lang in Tahoe. On the first 50-mile lap, Sean was in 10th place. After the second 50-mile loop, he had caught five runners and finished fifth in 21:54, improving his time by an hour and 30 minutes from 2009 and grabbing the age group win from Jacob Rydman by 40 minutes. This did not come easy.
With someone like Sean, who is already motivated, you’d think there would be nothing to worry about being his pacer, but no. I was worried when it was almost 3:00 p.m. and I still hadn’t seen Sean at the 50-mile checkpoint. I was even more worried when I saw him running towards me wearing a silly hat. But I trusted his strategy, and fashion sense. You need that kind of trust in pacing.
At the Tunnel Creek aid station, we made a strategic move to leave while Pierre-Yves Couteau was changing his shoes. Then we caught up to Simon Mtuy on the ridge and picked up the pace going down to Diamond Peak Lodge aid station.
We caught up to Jacob Rydman and his pacer not too far from the aid station. They did not respond when we passed them, but we picked up our pace. There was no time to relax as I saw their headlamps flickering after we had finished the snow section. They had not given up yet. We decided to skip the Snow Valley aid station and race on to the finish.
We bombed the downhill on the single-track in the woods and to our surprise, Sean saw another light ahead.
We caught up to Paul Hopwood; he had turned off his headlamp so we wouldn’t see where he was, but now he couldn’t find the trail! Sean quickly found the course marking and blasted off at blazing six-minute/mile pace. My stomach was churning, but I followed and Paul got right behind us. We ran this crazy pace for a couple of minutes at mile 94 or 95 and we just could not shake him off. Finally, Sean let Paul pass him. Little did we know that he fell and twisted his ankle while he was chasing us, his ankle swelling to a size of a tennis ball.
The race was not over yet. The clock was ticking and it was 2:40 a.m. when we arrived at Spooner Trailhead. If we finished before 3:00 a.m., Sean could go sub-22! He quickly stripped off his hydration pack and jacket, and took off. It was the longest two miles.
We were running by the lake and we could hear the cheering, but the wooden pathway to the final stretch would not come soon enough We finally reached the finish line and the clock said 21:54. Sean’s wife Heidi was waiting for us at the finish; Sean had won his age group. What a way to celebrate their five-year anniversary.
It was an awesome journey.
