My Adventure: by Jane Saccaro
On October 3, 2024, my sister Annie and I (along with 200+ other brave souls) set out to do something that might have been the hardest thing we’ve ever attempted – to hike/run a mountain marathon in 12 hours, then wake up and do another one, and then, on the third day, complete a third and final marathon. Three marathons in three days. On Lake Tahoe’s mountain trails, where the elevation ranges from 6,000-8,500 feet above sea level, requiring us to ascend and descend 13,000 feet. Most of my friends and family thought I was nuts to try this, yet I could not contain my excitement about this challenge.
This event was created by an incredible organization, 29029. Last year, I tried my first endurance event at Whistler with 29029, where we summitted 29,029 vertical feet (the equivalent of Mt. Everest) in 36 hours. We hiked many of those hours in the dark of night, with only our headlamps to guide us. And we finished that event in a wintry mix of wind, rain and snow. And while that event was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, I was hooked! And so the morning after that event, we started planning our next adventure.
In the end, we selected the TRAIL event in Lake Tahoe. We were excited to try a new challenge – and even though we were going to be covering far more mileage, and need our endurance to get through three days, we’d have a nightly sleep in our hotel bed to recover. That was all I needed to hear to say yes!
The event was indeed physical grueling.. there were many moments when it felt hard to take another step forward. Annie had so many blisters I lost count (and I marveled at how she was able to keep on going). But it was also SO. MUCH. FUN! This is an organization that prides itself on seeing how many people can finish – not who wins. The community could not have been more supportive – we met so many new people on the trail, and it was not uncommon to walk with a new friend for an hour or more, while we got to know them better. We had incredible coaches along the way, and volunteers (usually 29029 alumni) at our aid stations to cheer us on. We were blessed with extraordinary weather, and incredible scenery. And those nightly rests did wonders for our “reset” button, which thankfully worked each day.
Jane and her sister Annie
Advice to Others:
Find something that stretches you mentally, emotionally and physically. And try it! You will not regret it! Here are some of the benefits I’ve felt from the two endurance events I’ve done.
I have expanded my sense of who I am. I am 51 years old, and I am very interested in trying things that stretch my understanding of who I am, and what I am capable of. In high school, my worst grade was in gym class because I couldn’t finish the mile run. So to be 51 years old and attempting new physical feats (which are arguably hard for even endurance athletes) feels exhilarating. As I age, I want to feel my identity is expanding rather than contracting, and this event gives me a way to play with that.
Being a beginner is fun. In my professional and personal lives, I often feel like I have to be the “expert” in charge (or at least I pretend to be, especially with my three children!). So it is really liberating to be the beginner again… to try something I’ve never done before, and to get curious about what that will feel like. It has brought on enormous levels of humility, reminded me what a gift it is to lean on others for support, and makes me feel like I’m constantly learning.
It’s good for me – and I happen to love it. Hiking combines all of my favorite things –movement for long periods of time, being in nature, spending time with people (and dogs) that I love, and unplugging from all digital communications. If I could write a prescription for my mental health, a long hike in the woods would be at the top of my list.
Our training program was six months long. Each week, we hiked, ran, worked on inclines with the treadmill and “step-ups,” and strength trained, so that our body could withstand the demands of 36 hours on our feet. Because I live in Chicago (where there are no mountains!), I used a rucksack (a weighted backpack) to simulate what hiking at altitude might feel like. Our training started at ~15 hours per week, ramping up to ~30 hours per week as we approached the event. We followed the training plan very closely, and I think that made a huge difference. While we were certainly sore for the week after the event, we sustained no major injuries, and I was grateful that we invested the time and energy into our training and preparation.
Finally, what helped us during our training and on the trail was tapping into the emotions that put us in our best mindset – gratitude (reflecting on what was working and how many things we were appreciating, from the volunteers to our gear to the incredible weather), empathy and compassion (for ourselves, by giving ourselves breaks when we needed them.. and for others, who might be in need of a boost that we could share), and most of all, humor. We decided to dress alike for every day of the hike, and quickly became recognizable as the “sisters” on the trail. When we were little, our mom used to dress us all in the same clothes (and as the oldest of three girls, I often hated it!). So it felt fun and silly to be dressing alike – by choice – once again.
Signing up for this event was a major financial investment. If that is an option for you, I can’t recommend 29029 highly enough. But if that’s not possible, you can simulate these types of experiences on your own too. My sister and I are already planning on our next big hike for 2025, which we’ll be designing and completing on our own.
