Ponderosa Run celebrates 50th

One of Lake Tahoe’s endurance running traditions will observe a special milestone on Saturday, when the 50th annual Ponderosa Ridge Run is held across the mountain tops from Spooner Summit to Kingsbury.

The event starts at 10 a.m. for runners and walkers, who are challenged by a 9.5-mile course starting from the Spooner Summit maintenance station on U.S. Highway 50.

The mountainous course is a mostly unpaved fire road and gains nearly 2,000 feet over the first 4.5 miles. The finish line is located at the end of Andria Drive (located off North Benjamin) near the top of Kingsbury Grade.

You can call the Ridge Run “low-key,” according to founder and organizer Austin Angell. No awards are given, nor is pre-registration taken and no fees are charged, although participants are welcome to make donations to help cover expenses.

Held annually on the first Saturday of July, it can be described as a “fun get-together” for local runners and hikers. Some have participated for years, even decades.

“There have been as many as 62 runners one year and as few as three another year,” Angell said. “It is interesting as to how many really good runners have made the 9.5 look easy and then how many locals just enjoy the run together.”

Angell emphasized the need for runners and walkers to carry their own fluids and provisions, since no aid stations are available along the course. The race has been held under a variety of weather and course conditions, including snowbanks at upper elevations after a heavy winter, he added.

Fittingly, every finisher does receive a green “survivor” ribbon and a beverage.

One other feature is the official race log – “The Book” – that chronicles each year of the race.

“That book lists every single finisher and time for each year,” Angell said. “I do not know of any other event that does that, and it is available at the finish for all to see.”

Some elite athletes have turned out along the way, including the first Ridge Run winner in 1975 Chuck LaBenz, an Olympic hopeful who lived on the South Shore at that time and four years earlier had been among America’s top-five milers. Another national level runner, Rick Gentry, set the course record of 1 hour, 1 minute and 23 seconds in 1986. Carla Pittelkow, a former All-American at the University of Utah, set the women’s overall record of 1:15.39 in 1982. Call 530-541-5224 for more information.