The Badwater 135 mile ultramarathon kicked off this morning in Death Valley. This was in the middle of a summer that was crushing heat records but, fortunately, there were just “normal” temps for the start of this year’s Badwater 135. I have such good memories of this race. I really want to go back here sometime to race it myself. I cannot stand humidity but do not mind the heat so this race would be perfect for me. 🙂
How do those temperatures look? 🙂
It is amazing how this race takes incredible athletes and peels away at them quickly. I remember my friend was having dehydration stomach issues around mile 30. He was vomiting pretty much everything that he had taken in for the last few hours. He was on the road hurling more than I have ever seen from someone (sorry for so much info 🙂 when a race photographer stopped and started snapping photos of it. He smiled and looked at us saying, “These photos will guarantee another 100 entrants for next year’s race.” That is how races like this work – they call out to the crazy in runners to take on what is perceived to be the impossible.
For those who want to follow along, you can click here for the results as they are updated at the various checkpoints. It is always a highlight for me to follow along – especially as I go to sleep, wake up, go to sleep, wake up and still find these awesome runners out there! There are some really incredible runners out there this year. A few of them are (in particular order): Dean Karnazes, David Goggins, Pam Reed, Chris Moon (incredible athlete – read about him!), Charlie Engle, Lisa Smith-Batchen (she is doing a QUAD crossing this year), Marshall Ulrich and many, many more awesome runers.
