Rock Tahoe Half Marathon returns to Stateline for third straight year

The third annual Rock Tahoe Half Marathon, presented by Epic Tahoe Adventures, will return to Stateline, Nev., on Saturday, June 17, 2017.

With one of the most breathtaking half marathon courses in the country, Rock Tahoe participants enjoy the spectacular scenery of many of Tahoe’s east and south shore treasures including Glenbrook, Logan Shoals, Cave Rock, Round Hill Pines, Nevada Beach and Rabe Meadow as they wind down over 1000ft from Spooner Summit to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Lake Tahoe.

With 2000 athletes, plus all the family and friends that join them, the Rock Tahoe Half Marathon will bring almost 5,000 people to Lake Tahoe to Run, Rock and Recover in this unique event. Race weekend begins at 2:00pm on Friday, June 16th with a Pre-Race Expo inside the Revolution Ballroom at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Lake Tahoe. The expo features both local and national sponsors and is open to the public.

Race day begins at Spooner Summit on Saturday, June 17th with the high-energy Run MC’s and Kaia Fit getting runners warmed up and pumped up at the start line. The race features two start times – 7:00 a.m. for walkers/joggers and 8:00 a.m. for runners. With seven aid stations on course, the event is fully prepared to meet racers’ hydration and nutritional needs.

The aid stations are all hosted by local organizations and also serve as rally points along the 13.1 mile course. “The volunteers at the aid stations do so much more than hand out water and food.”, says Jason Collin, ETA’s Chief Officer of Awesomeness, “They create the vibe and keep the energy high out on the course. We couldn’t put on a race like this without the amazing support of our volunteers.”

While runners finish their 13.1 mile adventure at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Lake Tahoe, the fun is actually just getting started. The finish line festivities, known as the Rock Tahoe Recovery Zone, will feature Sierra Nevada Brewery, Rocket Vodka, Lake Tahoe Yoga, Bodhi Tree Massage School, along with other numerous expo vendors. New this year is the addition of several food vendors such as Salsa Girl Salsa, Fire on the Mountain Pizza, Tahoe Pan Ice Cream, Jamba Juice, and more!

The Rock Tahoe Recovery Zone is open to the public as well as participants and is a great place to celebrate with runners at the finish line. The festivities, which start at 8:00am and go until 2:00pm, also include a pool party for participants and their guests with local favorites Ike & Martin playing live on the poolside stage.

Last year’s field, which drew runners from 35 states and five countries, was 73 percent women. The largest number of participants were between 34-44 years, with the youngest competitor (Max Woelfel) just 9 years old and the oldest (Jim Whalen) being a spry 80-years young. Winning times for 2016 were 1:14:48 (men’s course record) by Wade Meddles and 1:27:28 by Kelly Booth. Awards are given to the top three men and women, along with the 1st-3rd spots in each age/gender group.

The Rock Tahoe Half Marathon will also be bringing back the award-winning Pic2Go photography package. Thanks to a partnership with Tahoe South, the photo package is completely free for runners and allows them to have their on-course and finish line photos automatically uploaded to Facebook.

In the first two years using Pic2Go, Rock Tahoe race photos have generated over 1.2 million impressions! “We couldn’t be happier with the response we’ve had to the event.” said Jess Schnoll, ETA’s Queen of Everything Epic. “Our goal was to create a locally grown, world class event in Tahoe and we’re doing just that. We are so grateful to all the racers, the volunteers and the community for making the event the success that it is.”

Registration is still open for this year’s race. Visit epictahoe.com for more details.