It’s been awhile since I wrote on the RTO. I can’t believe it’s been two RTO’s since my last post. (And the last one was before the pandemic.) I need to catch up!

Much of the RTO team has now changed to be many KPS3ers – Rob, Danielle, Brook, Ryan, Sarah G, Joe, Ashlan, and Callee. And we have some classics like Bridget, Nagisa, Jason, and Jed.

This last year was my last in Van 2. Both Bridget and I had one more to do here. This was also Rob’s 12th RTO, which is crazy to think! This was mainly the only race I planned for this entire year. I was in shape, and luckily had Leg 8, which is fast and downhill. I liked it! The weather was beautiful, and we had a great time. I also barely beat Ryan on my average time, being faster by a few seconds. His legs were all uphill and mine were downhill, but…  hey… a win is a win. I also got some trial shoes for Bridget (a la Mother’s Day). She had that giant trail run downhill, which the shoes worked out well. Our total time was 26 hours and 3 minutes. We placed 11th in our division and 41st overall.

2022’s legs were a good challenge. Leg 6’s first two legs were 9 miles in total. However, I was about a month from completing my first ultra marathon. (And I had one more in me that summer!) So, distance was not a problem. Speed though may have been. I was trying to switch from distance to speed, and I’d say that speed was not as much fun to run for. Regardless, I was ready. It was kinda funny to see some of the other long distance runners I admire. I was able to keep up with some of them this year. The last leg though was a beast. To add to this, it was a really windy RTO. (Ryan and Rob slept on top of the van, and I don’t know if they got any sleep up there.) The last leg was all up hill, but finishes downhill through Virginia City. But making those turns uphill with the wind at your face was a good challenge to have. Regardless, we powered through it. I averaged a 8:20 pace across all my runs. We finished at 26H, 35M, which gave us 43rd overall, 11th overall (again).

This year will be my 12th RTO to complete the full leg. I also volunteered to be the captain this year. (Rob was out, and Bridget wouldn’t do it.) Might as well make it the last year to volunteer to lead.

My last leg is leg 5. Let’s go!