Each edition of the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Runs (TRTER) brings the unexpected: In 2024, it was strong gusts of wind that nearly blew away the finishing chute at John L. Harvey Field. Last year, it was triple-digit heat and snow on the course.

But TRTER Race Director George Ruiz can count on his dedicated volunteers to take care of the entrants and solve issues that arise.

“The volunteers we get — some new — but many have been with us for 10-plus years,” Ruiz said. “They completely put their lives on hold for 72 hours, giving their all for the event.”

When John L. Harvey Field at Western Nevada College was windswept by strong Sierra gusts on the first of two days of racing on July 20, an inflatable tent was blown from its location. Worse yet, the inflatable finishing chute was nearly blown out of the park, if not for the quick thinking and swift action of volunteers. To secure the chute for that day’s finishers, it was attached to two pickups.

“Amazing teamwork!” Ruiz said.

Fortunately for the hundreds of competitors in the TRTER ultradistance runs, which started and finished at Western Nevada College for the fourth consecutive year, a high-elevation thunderstorm cooled the race’s muggy conditions and contributed to a high completion rate.

“This translated into one of the highest-finishing rates we’ve had … a 74 percent percent rate for the 100-milers,” Ruiz said. “Normally, we’ve averaged around 66 to 70 percent in past years. The 56-miler had an 86 percent finishing rate and the 50K had a 97 percent finishing rate. Pretty impressive considering the difficulty of this course.”

In all, 416 participants completed their races.

Grant Hotaling of Healdsburg, Calif., won the 100-mile race in 18 hours, 31 minutes and 1 second. Tim Lipovsky of South Lake Tahoe was seventh in 23:32:53 and Carson City’s Christian Finkbeiner of Carson City came in 16^th in 25:50:16.

Ben Tedore of Reno won the 56-mile race in 9:07:26, while Andrea Bayer of Carson City was the sixth-place female in 13:45:21. Joselio Ramirez of Minden was 17^th overall in 13:34:28, Joel Viloria of Dayton was 39^th in 15:07:25, Mathew Morris of Carson City came in 48^th in 15:41:04, Chelsea Torres of Carson City finished 98^th in 18:47:11, Gina Session of Carson City placed 102^nd in 19:08:40.

In the 50K race, Amaury Avat of Oakland, Calif., was the winner in 5:53:07. Jenny Jacox of Monterey, Calif., was the top woman in seventh overall at 6:28:58. EJ Maldonado of Carson City was 32^nd, Michon Wright of Carson City was 63^rd, Jenny Terry of Fallon took 66^th, Michael Dowler of Fallon placed 80^th, Monica Moore of Carson City came in 89^th, Kristen Montgomery of Carson City was 158^th and Robert Montgomery of Carson City finished 159^th.

For the second time, the races started and concluded at John L. Harvey Field, a spacious venue, allowing organizers to accommodate the needs of the participants and draw more attention to the finishers.

“The John L Harvey baseball Stadium is an awesome venue for us … for everyone who enters it, with the way with have it set up with 20 porta potties lined up on the third-base outfield line, the inflatable merchandise tents with our branding, feather flags branded and the Ultra Lounge over home plate with a stage and live music Saturday night … playing music to the ringing cow balls cheering finishers was pretty surreal,” Ruiz said.

Each ultrarunner who completed the 100-mile race received a belt buckle created by silversmith Pete Schuler of Washoe Valley. Schuler has handcrafted every buckle ever handed to a finisher of the 100-mile race since it was introduced in 2006.

For additional results, go to trter.com.

The 100-mile race in the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Runs began at 5 a.m. on July 20 at Western Nevada College's John L. Harvey Field. (Photo courtesy of Jacob Banta of bantavisuals.com)