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Lake Tahoe athletes smash records at Truckee Marathon

Tahoe City runner Adam Kimble, shown in 2017, is attempting to set a new record on the Tahoe Rim Trail.
Justin Scacco / Sierra Sun |

A pair of Lake Tahoe-area residents crushed marathon course records on Sunday, Sept. 24, at Big Blue Adventure’s second annual Truckee Marathon.

Adam Kimble, of Tahoe City, picked up the win in record fashion out of the men’s division, dusting the field of roughly 50 runners by nearly 7 minutes, with a time of 3:02:25; while on the women’s side Caroline Almkvist, of South Lake, raced to the second overall fastest time in course history and a record for the female division with a time of 3:09:01. Previous record holder, Marco Caepelli, crossed the line last year with a time of 3:13:35.

The race, which also included a relay, and a half marathon distance, started amid chilly temperatures in downtown Truckee at 8 a.m., where roughly 200 competitors left the start line, making there way west, and then around Donner Lake.



Almkvist, who is from Sweden and is living in South Tahoe while working on a civil engineering internship, entered the race after winning the Emerald Bay Trail Run the week before.

WebsiteVisit TruckeeMarathon.com for full results.

“The first part was a bit uphill, and then on dirt roads,” she said. “I’m not really used to trail running. Back home in Gothenburg (Sweden), I only do road running, so it felt a bit sketch over there, but then it flattened out and was so beautiful next to Donner Lake.”



From there, the runners hit the toughest part of the hilly course with a difficult climb up Northwoods Boulevard, as the route took the racers back toward downtown Truckee.

“That just killed me, I was struggling so bad,” Almkvist said. “There was a man in front of me and he started walking, and I was like, ‘No, I’m not going to walk this part, I’ll run it, I’ll try to run it.’”

Almkvist reached downtown Truckee at the same time as women’s half marathon winner, Regina Curry, of Grass Valley. Curry won the half marathon with a time of 1:36:48, just behind men’s winner Chris Lemke (1:36:05), of Northeim, Germany. Curry and Lemke each set records for their times in the women and men’s divisions, respectively.

From there, Almkvist said the remainder of her race was run alone as she made her away east from Truckee, and then back along the Truckee River to the finish line in downtown Truckee.

On the men’s side, Kimble raced past the half marathon finish more than 15 minutes ahead of any half marathon runner, and then slowed a little during the final half of the race, as he took the second annual Truckee Marathon in record fashion.

“I really loved the course because I’m an ultra runner, and I do a lot of trail races. But I also like road races, so this was a nice mix of the two,” Kimble said. “You’ve got quite a bit of road and quite a bit of trail, and it made for a fun day.”

Upon finishing the race, Kimble hopped on his bicycle to ride along his wife Karen, father-in-law, and a friend who was competing in their first marathon.

“Big Blue Adventure puts on awesome races,” Kimble said. “This was a really fun course. My wife and I have only lived in the Tahoe area for about 10 months, so this is a cool way for me to see a little bit more of the area and to check out some new places I haven’t run in before.”

Kimble also won Big Blue Adventure’s Squaw Valley Half Marathon last June, and said he will now attempt to qualify for next year’s Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run by competing in the Rio Del Lago 100-Mile Endurance Run in November.

For full results visit TruckeeMarathon.com.


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