Elsa Jaworski: Tahoe200 Podium Place at an All Day Party Pace 

Sometimes, when Elsa Jaworski starts to dip in mood while running, her friends command her to do a cartwheel. The mental (and physical) perspective change reminds her that she has one job, to get from A to B and have fun in the middle. 

Elsa had always run; from being small, her whole family had enjoyed the sport. She had worked her way up, now competing in the Tahoe 200. The race is a 206.2 mile, out-and-back course from Heavenly Stagecoach Lodge at Tahoe Lake on the California, Nevada state line. With 36,857 + feet of ascent/descent, racers have 105 hours to complete the difficult course. 

“We got into it because my mom, in her late 20s, was diagnosed with type one diabetes. At the time, the American Diabetes Association was training for the London Marathon, so she just stepped into it, and my dad joined her.

“I grew up in Florida, where there’s little trail access. I ended up moving out to Utah a couple of years ago. I’m a part of a really awesome women’s trail group out here, and I started seeing them do these crazy, awesome feats, and I was like, I think I can do this, too. And, yeah, it’s a fun way to be able to play outside for hours at a time.”

Without a coach, Elsa admits for a lot of her races, she just “wings it.” She had done 100-mile races in the past, but the turnaround she had was immensely short in comparison to other races.