Badwater Ultramarathon

I wonder how a world class marathoner would do in something like that. I remember several years ago, the RAAM bicycle race from coast to coast was the domain of zanies and freaks, sleeping 30 minutes a day and hallucinating. Then Johnathon Boyer, who was the first American in the Tour de France, said any tour veteran could win it without undue stress. The ultra crowd scoffed. Boyer went out and slept real sleep, ate some real meals, rode their wheels off during the day, won the damn thing, and retired from it. With some exceptions, those fringe ultra events attract fringe people. I would suspect that a sub 2:15 marathoner from a hot country would do well. That is just my conjecture.

I pretty much agree with you. But I would say that not *all* elite marathoners would do well at this sort of thing. However, I'd bet that if you put a bunch of fast marathoners on the starting line of that race, a few of them would take down the old cr.

For starters, you can't get an elite runner out there. No money. No glory. We aren't quite the fringe lunies you reference, no more than speed oriented roadies are.

A. Salazar won Comrades (approx 54 mile ultra in So. Africa), but so did Ann Trason (women's division). His time wasn't that impressive. Ann Trason has qualified for the women's marathon trials while running a 50-miler.

Few roadies understand the patience needed for ultras. One or two sometimes shows up for one good run, but not for several ultras on different courses. I had a 2:27 marathoner running next to me during a 100k -- kept asking why we were going so slow. We were about 5 minutes apart at 50k. I finished almost two hours ahead of him.

Badwater is so different from any other run, regular or ultra. We ran about four miles there once, maybe I'll finally go back in 2003 to try it. It isn't about speed, glory, and stuff like that. Things change after several hours, several hills, several valleys. Ultras are mind games more than physical grind it outs.

For the bicycling enthusiast there is always the Furnace Creek 508 -- right there in the valley.

Personally, I cannot imagine running Badwater. I *drove* through the Mojave a couple weeks ago, and that was enough for me. I ran a road 50k once and dug that. The thought of a 100k or even 100 miler holds some allure. But Badwater, not for me. It's not the distance, but the heat. I don't think I could make it out alive. Good luck to you if you try it.

If anyone running this year's Badwater reads this, please report on how it felt. I am thinking of racing it a few years from now, but not surprisingly I am scared sh!tless of the conditions. I really appreciate these folks effort. How long does it take to recover from that sort of an ultra, like 4 months?

No to four months. The woman who won just ran a 100k trail run in Montana the 14th of July (maybe 13th). Several of the Badwater runners will be at other long runs this summer, Leadville Trail 100 in August, Wasatch Front 100 in September, and so forth.

It's just a different kind of running and mind set.

Who is the big gun on the Ultra scene? Aside from Saladbar winning Comrades, I haven't heard all that much.

I really don't know anything about ultra, other than what I am reading in 'Why we run'.

who rules? wrote:

Who is the big gun on the Ultra scene? Aside from Saladbar winning Comrades, I haven't heard all that much.

I really don't know anything about ultra, other than what I am reading in 'Why we run'.

It depends on which "scene." National trail or road? International? I'm sorry to day I don't know much about the international ultra scene, but generally there you can start with "Anyone from Russia" for the men and "Anyone from Japan" for the women, and work your way down. :-)

In the U.S. on trails I'd say the current Dog has to be Scott Jurek. He wins practically anything he wants to (ie. not using it as a training run) and is at 4 Western States in a row. Just an unreal runner. Ann Trason for women, without a doubt. I don't know about roads for men and women. The road ultra scene in the U.S. is kind of fragmented. I like Dave Dunham, Jim Garcia, Kevin Setnes. There are really a lot of good guys. Women I'm not too sure about. Ann Riddle jumps to mind. And Trason, wherever she runs.

Monica Scholz will run Leadville on the 17th-18th of August. I believe she ran 23 100+ milers in 2001.

Several others will also run Leadville.

jersey_guy,

I have no ties whatsoever with Badwater/ultras, but I did run across this (which you might be interested in)...

I am writing this from my hotel room in Lone Pine at 9:40 AM, 14 miles from the finish of the Badwater 135. Please excuse my spelling, grammar and enthusiasm. I have been off the course for about 15 hours, I have been awake for about one hour, my feet are throbbing and my skin is burnt and dry. I am sitting in my room but still under the influence of the stupidest running event that I have ever seen. I don't know what they are showing you on the web site but here is how it looks to me. Runners are still walking and staggering past our hotel window up Highway 395 on their way to Whitney Portal Road. The temperature is climbing and the sky is orange and gray with small flakes of falling soot and ash which is from the wild fires which are burning in the Sequoia National Forest directly to the west of here. The smoke was visible two days ago from at the start well over one hundred miles away in Badwater. I am here at Badwater as a crew/pacer for my friend Major Mark Johnson. I ran/walked/stumbled along with Mark for about 110 miles. This was both Mark and my first time here. Mark started at 6:00 AM on Tuesday and finished last night at 6:32 PM. As of now, I have not seen the results so I don't know where he finished overall. I am an experienced ultra runner, I have completed most of the big, famous and challenging 100 milers in the country, but I am here to tell you, the ain't nothing like Badwater. This is the most difficult and stupidest run in the country! Period! The race provides nothing, no course marking, no aid stations, no doctors, no support, no nothing. Each runner must completely staff and supply themselves from start to finish. You are on your own. The course it self is very, very difficult with super long stretches of rolling hills, then completely flat dry lake beds and miles and miles of salt flats. The mountain climbs are extremely long and unforgiving, one goes from literally 0 to nearly 5000 feet in 15 miles, a nearly straight shot with no relief! This is the race that never ends. And then there is the weather. I don't have the words to accurately describe how hot is was on Towne's Pass. Temperature reports were sketchy at best. It depends on who you talk to and where the measurement was taken. We heard the day time high was between 109 and 127 at night it was in the 90's. All I can tell you is that it was hotter than I have ever experienced. Dry hot and windy, most of the day and night. The course is paved with smoking hot asphalt, there are no trees in the desert so there is absolutely no cover, none. It is just you and the searing hot desert sun. Runners cover themselves with wet clothes, bandanas and ice in their hats. We also spray ourselves with water from one of those garden spray canisters filled with cool water. When you totally soak yourself it would take less than 5 minutes to be completely bone dry again. We were drinking one 8 oz. bottle of water or Cyto every quarter to half mile. You cannot drink fast enough to prevent dehydration. Being behind on your food and liquid is just past of this event. You are always at a disadvantage. There is so much more to say about this insane event, but right now I really have to go and find some food. Through out the day I will check the list and my e mail, if anyone has questions. Congratulations to all of the finishers and good luck to you poor sons of bitches who are still out there, good luck, keep moving and keep drinking. Check out the web site

http://www.badwaterultra.com/

, with warm (really warm) regards, Luis Escobar

The L.A. Times has provided good pre- and post-race coverage (free registration required):

123 Degrees, 135 Miles and Hours of Pain--a Case Study in Endurance (http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-me-death25jul25005052.story)

Runners Beat Path to Pioneer's Door (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-arnold25jul25.story)

Winner's Margin Jolts Fellow Ultra Runners

(http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-winner26jul26.story)

My favorite is the story of the guy who ran without a support team, and dragged his supplies behind him. Seriously twisted.

Dan Held (2:13:50 PR) won the USATF 50 Mile Champs in 2000 and finished 4th at the IAAF 100K World Champs. It's pretty tame ultra running - not like Badwater, but it does show that a 2:15 marathoner-type past his prime can be very competitive on the ultra scene. Much like Salazar was obviously past his prime when he won Comrades.