Nevada portion of the American Discovery Trail

[Brian Stark]

From July 14 - 25, 2011, I set the supported speed record for the Nevada portion of the American Discovery Trail. Starting at the NV/Utah state line at 5:01 am on July 14, I ran 496 miles through 5 wilderness areas, 6 state parks, 15 mountain ranges and 37,000 feet of climbing to finish in front of the CalNeva Resort on the California / Nevada border at Crystal Bay on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe, finishing at 12:29 pm on July 25. Total trip time was 11 days, 7 hours, and 28 minutes. During the trip, I had a support crew of three people with two vehicles. There were only two places I strayed from the official trail. One in the Arc Dome Wilderness where a local trail author had spent two days trying unsuccessfully to open up an overgrown section causing me to run up Ophir Canyon, the bike route alternative. The second was at the California border: rather than run through the Sierra Nevada mountains to the border in the forest, I ran down the Flume Trail to Lake shore Drive and the CalNeva Resort, making for an easier start for next year's race. There are plans being made to host a competitive race in 2012 to better my time, running west to east. Stay tuned to www.discoverytrail.org for more.

Brian Stark
www.statesrunner.com