Midnight Express Ultra 72 | Lake Tahoe Marathon

The 72 Mile Tahoe Midnight Express

Saturday-Sunday 9:00pm Saturday start

The 72 Mile Tahoe Midnight Express will start Saturday night at 9:00 pm from the Valet Parking area of the Golden Nugget Casino Hotel and end at Lakeside Beach with the Marathoners and other races. You will travel counter-clockwise around Lake Tahoe. There is an 18-hour time limit, with official timing ending at 3:00 pm on Sunday. There will be an orientation meeting TBA on Saturday, where you will pick up your runner's singlet, t-shirt, and race bib. Earlier starts can be arranged to accommodate the 3 PM finish line closing.

Nine, ten, and eleven-hour finishers should start closer to midnight so you have the marathon aid stations to aid you for your last 26 miles, and you do not arrive at the finish line before the finish line is ready to celebrate your finish.

(see timeline for details).

The first 48 miles will be unsupported (until mile 2 of the Lake Tahoe Marathon), meaning all runners must provide their support vehicle and crew. Support vehicle-person will be allowed to support up to 3 runners maximum. The first few miles will have streetlights as you go through Round Hill and Zephyr Cove. The course is on the road with a few bike paths to move on to whenever possible but it will have narrow shoulders in several places, especially the tunnel at Cave Rock (about 40 yards long) and the road between Glenbrook and Spooner Summit.

There is a new bike path off the road at the Sand Harbor boat entrance that you can take. It goes for about 3 miles to Incline Village. It ducks under the highway in a tunnel after about two miles. It comes back into Incline Village. This is where it gets tricky. When you get off the new bike trail, you will have to turn left for 100 yards and right onto Lakeshore Blvd, the lower road through Incline Village. If you turn right, you will be going uphill quite a bit but will come out at the same place at the northern end of Incline Village. Be an A student and check the google maps ahead of time.

Always keep the Lake on your left. When you get to Tahoe City, a fork in the road will take you to Truckee if you are half asleep. Take H89 to the left. Cross Fanny Bridge and keep the lake to the left.

All runners for the 72 miler MUST be lit with night reflecting gear, flashing lights that will not be missed by approaching cars, and head a lamp. Runners who show up at the start line without these lights will not be part of this event.

Contact the RD at the orientation meeting if you need to start earlier. We want you to finish what you started! If you finish after 3 PM, text in your time and ask for your bling.

No whiners or woosies, please! Just get it done. And don't feed the bears!

Event record:

Jon Olson ran the 3rd best time ever for the 72-mile Ultra on September 30, 2012

9:22:37.

The second-best time for running around the lake goes to Spear (Ron) Kronlage, who ran 9:15:03 in 1983 when the race was called the Pepsi of Reno 72 Mile Lake Tahoe Run.

Rae Clark ran the fastest 72 miler back in 1982 at 9:06:11.

See The Map My Run route map and elevation profile here!