Outdoors
Reno Tahoe Odyssey Part I - The intro
Editor's Note: Part I of a four-part series on Project Green Star's Reno Tahoe Odyssey. Last names have been with withheld to preserve the reputation of its runners:
Perhaps we'll look back at the early 21st century and be able to dissect the experience simply:
A time of uncertainty where folks decided greatness meant only being perceived as great.
Tweets, social media warble, wars with no end and economic holes with no bottom have eaten at our collective consciousness.
We've learned to kinda sort things out as individuals, creating an isolated path to happiness — but one we want everyone know know about.
...When all we should probably be doing is piling in a sweaty van and running together.
Participating in my first Reno Tahoe Odyssey with a van full of strangers sounds (and yes, members of each of the 120 participating teams — a record — probably said the same thing) like a reality TV show.
But there was no camera crew, no made-for-TV histrionics and no cash prize at the end.
Just a bunch of people spending 24ish hours doing something that hurts.
Realizing, in the end, it's the tough stuff in life — the stuff you don't want to do — that makes you grow.
Well, that and Red Bull.
In the end, the race is an easy metaphor — and that's what keeps 'em coming back. You start bright-eyed. You get a few key moments to do your best.
...The things you dread most never happen and the things you never expect to derail you — do.
Then, it's all over. And you're tired. And you're sad. And — you move on.
Here then — with apologies to the other half of the Project Green Star runners (teams are split into two relay groups of six, chopping the 36-leg relay up into six smaller bits; my 'half' of the team ran legs 7-12, 19-24 and 31-36) — is a stage-by-stage breakdown... Runners' last names have been withheld:
Stage 7: Our half of the team's first leg started off with a group picture at the Hirschdale Exit exchange. Ali, running leg 11, was looking strong at Boca under cloud cover — came in hot and all smiles as she finished the team's morning run.
A pair of teams ahead of us exchanged a minute in front of me.
I took the baton (wristband) and started on my first leg as thunder clapped.
First Friday at Brickelltown is back... just in time for fall
9/02/10, 8:18 am, By Alanna Hughes
- 4 p.m. Friday in Brickelltown
- Bring your cruiser bike (cheaper/better peeps than Burning Man)
Ski Porn season kicks off at Squaw Sept. 18 with Standard premiere
8/31/10, 9:22 pm, By S. Cowley
- North Shore-based snowboard heavies preimere 'The Storming' Saturday, Sept. 18
- Monster'll be there too...
Sorry Burning Man - it's all about the Ski Loft Tent Sale
8/30/10, 7:52 pm, Staff Report
- 8 a.m. Friday
- Bring all your pennies... (what's left of 'em)
REI Cookware - Ticker
- REI Cookware specials
Basin Bargain Basement - The bargain of bargains
8/29/10, 8:59 pm, By A. Pridgen
- $105k for starter condo in KB
- Yes, we toured a similar unit in '06 for more than $300k ...actually, maybe it WAS this unit
Bomber pre-season ski sales from local manufacturers
8/25/10, 7:50 am, Staff Report
- From Praxis Powderboards to Moment Rubys ...to a surprise entry
- It's time to buy local... buy new
Skiing is no more
8/22/10, 11:47 am, Staff Report
- RIP Skiing Magazine
- ...Are you next, SKI?
Date set for 7th annual Downtown Truckee Wine Walk And Shop
8/22/10, 9:25 am, Switchback PR
- Filling up that fall calendar yet?!
- Well, here's where to start
REI Cookware - Ticker
- REI Cookware specials
Squaw to host SATELite Festival in September
8/22/10, 7:28 am, By A. Richmond
- New outdoor(ish) event pronounced 'satellite' ...not 'Sate-lite' like we orig. thought
- ...Not 100 percent sure what it is — but ncludes wine, so we'll be there
Tahoe Mountain Sports gets you warm for Ski Loft tent sale
8/20/10, 6:44 pm, By Lis Korb
- First come tent sales... then ski porn premiers
- Then (gulp) snow... are you ready?!
Legendary Incline bear featured in WSJ
8/18/10, 8:31 pm, Staff Report
- Free BUBBA
- That's right - It's our fault... not the bear's... but is that what the Journal thinks?!
Trail Building Backcountry Camps
8/17/10, 8:49 pm, TRTA
- Get on those trails
- ...and get your build on Saturday and Sunday (and again Labor Day weekend)
REI Cookware - Ticker
- REI Cookware specials
Win an iPad from IVGID
8/15/10, 7:03 pm, Staff Report
- Golf, ski, beach, compute
- repeat
Squaw creates new top marketing position... sale rumors spark again
8/10/10, 8:18 pm, Staff Report
- Wait, Squaw CREATED a position...
- Ok, something's definitely going down... (25-year industry vet Scott Clarkson tapped as VP of Marketing and Sales)
Jim's trip ...halfway... round The Rim
8/07/10, 1:16 pm, By. A. Pridgen
- Hammerel raises triple his goal amt. to benefit the TRT
- ...and tears up his knee
Volunteer trail-building workdays with the Tahoe Rim Trail Association
8/05/10, 7:45 am, TRTA
- You heard about Jim Hammerel's mission to speed-traverse the TRT
- Now you can pitch in too
REI Cookware - Ticker
- REI Cookware specials
Goodbye Norm
8/03/10, 8:08 pm, By A. Pridgen
- The Godfather of Incline, Norm Rosenberg, passes - he was 92
- Incline's left-leaning champion leaves legacy ...starting with the library
Test drive a Tesla... before it's too late
8/01/10, 9:30 pm, By A. Pridgen
- Tesla, the Palo Alto-based electric car company has gone through more than $300 million VC $
- ...but still hasn't tapped into Uncle Sam's reserves for the Model S - go check it out at the Hyatt
Sugar Bowl dining room and Belt Room Bar open for business
7/30/10, 10:22 am, By John Monson
- Good grub, great views
- And nothing beats Belt Room post PCT
Ultimate Frisbee - ultimate course
7/27/10, 8:56 pm, By A. Richmond
- Squaw opens disc golf course
- Signature hole (no. 4) has 1080' downhill... wow
REI Cookware - Ticker
- REI Cookware specials
Squaw's MTB park open for first time since '03
7/23/10, 7:22 pm, By Amelia Richmond
- 2k feet of single-track
- 'K, we're in
Remembering Kenny Guinn
7/22/10, 10:08 pm, Staff Report
- The man who created the Milennium Scholarship and SNPLMA passed away Thursday
- Guinn, who oversaw Nevada during its most prosperous years, was 73
Lokal boy makes good - former PlumpJack star Edge shines in Sonoma
7/20/10, 6:23 pm, By A. Pridgen
- Rick Edge takes saucy edge down to downtown Sonoma
- Lokal is the (new) place to be and PlumpJack alum makes it so
Tahoe skier visits were estimated to be up 17 percent last winter
7/19/10, 8:40 am, Staff Report
- Numbers of skiers on the hill increased - but overall spending stayed modest
- Cheap passes the plan again for 2010-'11
REI Cookware - Ticker
- REI Cookware specials
Cushing steps down from Squaw post ...rumors of sale sparked
7/13/10, 6:06 pm, Staff Report
- Former Intrawest exec takes over
- ...Rumor mill turning overtime: is Cushing family getting ready to bounce?
TRPA's Asian clam bake
7/11/10, 9:19 pm, By Jeff Cowen
- $1.4 million effort to eradicate invasive species from the lake...
- And it involves (no joke) laying a rubber mat on the lake's floor... hi-tech
Kids' zip line at Squaw ...Boo ya
7/08/10, 5:12 pm, By A. Richmond
- KT zip line
- What about for the grown-ups?!
Just like that ...red flags are up
7/06/10, 6:22 pm, Staff Report
- Three-year anniversary of Angora looms ever-present
- Thunderstorms Wednesday/Thursday portend danger
REI Cookware - Ticker
- REI Cookware specials
Nevada County approves PR firm's contract the same week it OKs budget cuts
6/30/10, 9:19 pm, Staff Report
- Wait a minute - you're saying Tahoe will spend more than a million dollars this year on, sloganeering...
- Meantime, budget cuts include child care, welfare-to-work and MediCal programs ...nice
Truckee's Lautner drops a PCT hiking book
6/28/10, 8:55 pm, Staff Report
- 32 eco-friendly trips on the Sierra stretch of the PCT ...with GPS coordinates
- Two thumbs up - pick it up...
Lake Tahoe Based Russian-American Partnership turns 20
6/24/10, 11:27 am, By TBI
- Tahoe-Baikal Institute celebrates two decades of watershed protection and cultural exchange
- Political and economic ups and downs notwithstanding
Tour de Nez photo gallery
6/22/10, 8:20 pm
- The weekend that was from Reno to Northstar
- And lots of Nash
REI Cookware - Ticker
- REI Cookware specials
Rebuild the Rim Trail every summer Saturday
6/11/10, 9:07 pm, TRTA
- Start summer right by giving your most precious gift
- ...Your time
TRPA tries to clarify
6/01/10, 8:30 pm, By Dennis Oliver
- So, what, if anything, does this have to do with Boulder Bay?!
- ...More importantly how 'bout that casino (strip club?) corridor...
Opinion ...TRPA ensures Tahoe times they area a-changin'
5/22/10, 8:35 pm, By Ann Nichols
- Density to increase under proposed TRPA regional plan
- But, will they build it (or will they come?)
TAUs on the table from TRPA
5/14/10, 10:08 pm, Staff Report
- If you don't understand the headline
- ...Go the the May 26 meeting and you'll see puh-lenty
REI Cookware - Ticker
- REI Cookware specials
Cal Neva now in TRPA doghouse
5/09/10, 6:49 pm, Staff Report
- TRPA will handle foreclosed property with kid gloves over more than a decade of flunking its eco report card
- Time to blow everything up but the casino floor, Sinatra Showroom, the lakefront cabins and the Indian Room
Celebrate National Trails Day with the Tahoe Rim Trail
5/06/10, 5:33 pm, TRTA
- Build a trail
- ...Get a free lunch
Save Martis Valley - one click at a time
5/04/10, 7:13 pm, By Renee Deinken
- Well, it's not like Martis Valley is in any danger of getting developed by broke-ass East/West
- ...But still good to preserve; Check out the new site
LTVA spends almost a mil. on slogan ending in preposition
5/02/10, 8:21 pm, By A. Pridgen
- That's right, your new slogan to lure Affliction-wearing d-bags to Stateline's new strip club
- ...'Get your vacation on' (ohh noo). Inside: Our five (free) slogan suggestions ...Holla
REI Cookware - Ticker
- REI Cookware specials
Cost of doing nothing too high for Tahoe
4/29/10, 8:22 pm, By Joanne Marchetta
- If you can make it through TRPA director's tome...
- We'll have resident feedback for you Friday
No downhill slide for Diamond Peak
4/09/10, 7:00 am, Staff Report
- While others founder
- ...DP in the black and breaking ground on new $4 million admin/ticket/locker/child ski center building
Foreclosed Cal Neva casino goes dark ...for good
3/24/10, 10:32 pm, By A. Pridgen
- One year after 'no-sale' at a foreclosure auction and interim management team shuts down Nevada's most legendary casino
- ...Sad, sad day... Casino doors to shut March 31 - rest of Basin gaming on life support
And yes ...the KB roundabouts were originally scheduled to be complete this summer
1/27/10, 9:35 pm, Staff Report
- Tahoe Regional Planning Agency board votes unanimously (again) to approve three-lane/roundabouts in KB
- ...Yes, you've heard that (here) before
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