Tahoe Rim Trail 50K M<20: Henry Pullen Goes the Distance

• Sole finisher in the under-20 men: Henry Pullen, 18, of Truckee, CA, crossed in 8:06:09 (15:39/mi avg).
• Kick Ash→Snow Valley Peak: Pullen posted the 24th-fastest split on that segment among the women's field — a notable benchmark on one of the course's most demanding stretches.
• Men's field position: Pullen moved through the men's race from 15th to 30th by the finish, reflecting the grind of the back half.

Henry Pullen owned the under-20 men's field at the Tahoe Rim Trail 50K for the simple reason that he was the only one in it — but owning it still meant running 31 miles across terrain that tops out near 9,000 feet above sea level. For an 18-year-old from Truckee, the altitude is home turf, and that familiarity may well have shown in how he moved through the early miles, holding 15th in the men's race through the first two checkpoints before the course began to take its toll.

The back half told a different story. Pullen slipped from 19th to 27th and eventually 30th among the men as the cumulative climbing and thin air stacked up — a fade that's common even for seasoned ultrarunners on this course, let alone a teenager tackling it. What stands out, though, is the Kick Ash→Snow Valley Peak segment, where his split ranked 24th-fastest among the women running the same stretch. That's a real number on a real climb, and it speaks to genuine leg strength at a point in the race where many are already unraveling.

An 8:06:09 finish at 15:39 per mile across this terrain is a full day's work by any measure. Pullen takes the M<20 title — and more importantly, a hard-earned finish at one of the Sierra Nevada's most demanding 50Ks.