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Barichievich fights through injury to win Tahoe Rim Trail race

Steve Yingling, Tahoe Daily Tribune

Caroline Barichievich went from questionable to Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance winner last weekend at Spooner Lake State Park.

The South Lake Tahoe ultra runner suffered a labral tear of her hip in the week leading up to the 50-mile race, a demanding trail/dirt road race in the backcountry in the Carson Spur of the Sierra.

Barichievich pushed through her injury to finish eighth overall in the 50-miler with the top women’s time of 9 hours, 54 minutes and 58 seconds.



“My whole goal and focus became to finish,” said Barichievich of her first 50-mile victory. “It was icing on the cake to finish first.”

Barichievich, who has won four 50K races in her running career, was joined by safety runner Alan Barichievich, her husband and recent Western State 100 finisher, at mile 30.



“For the first 30 miles I felt the hip. Each mile I reached felt like a gift,” said the mother of two young children. “I knew if I could get to mile 30 I’d finish.

“Ultimately I’d like to take 20-35 minutes off my time when I’m healthy and when I do this again.”

South Shore’s Ron Nageotte also needed to overcome an injury to compete his 50-miler. Nageotte suffered a severe bout of back spasms more than halfway through his run and seriously considered dropping out.

“I had some issues like most ultra runners do,” Nageotte said.

Event promoters tout the runs as a “glimpse of heaven, a taste of hell.”

In the past, Red House Loop has given runners the most difficulty, but the 1,900 vertical climb from Diamond Peak Ski Resort – a new addition to the course – has taken over that distinction, Nageotte said.

“There is a new taste of pure hell,” Nageotte said. “It’s straight up. Some runners were going sideways and zigzagging; others were going backwards.”

Nageotte’s back tightened up during that arduous ascent and when he trudged into Hobart aid station, he thought he was done. But a massage from a volunteer from Ascent Physical Theraphy in Carson City loosed up the spasm enough for Nageotte to finish.

“I’m indebted to her forever,” said Nageotte, who placed 59th overall in 13:25:22.

Several times Nageotte privately scolded himself for competing on Saturday, but the adrenaline rush of finishing a tough run will keep him moving forward in the sport.

“The next day after the race I started thinking when I was going to do the next one,” he said.

Truckee’s Peter Fain was the top 50-mile runner, finishing first in 8:30:47. Fain previously won the event’s 50K title multiple times and owns the course record at 4:33:29.

Marty Coffey, a former South Lake Tahoe resident, finished in 16:03:55.

Thomas Crawford shattered the TRT’s 100-mile record time, finishing in 17:47:09. The old course record was 18:16. Runner-up Brett Rivers was well behind Crawford, completing the race in 18:53:37.

Roxanne Woodhouse was the first woman to cross the finish line, running her 100 miles in 22:46:19.

Winners of the 50K races were Ben Kadlec in 5:13:42 and Julie Young in 5:26:57. Local runners to complete the 50K were Lauren Boismier (8:05:12) and George Giguere (8:53:08).

For more details and photos of the race, see Friday’s print edition of the Tribune.


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