The Badwater Ultramarathon

[Bored, Esq.]

http://www.badwater.com/

Whenever I'm feeling particularly egotistical or tough or whatever, I read about these people. It helps to put things in perspective. Upon viewing this site some of you might be the type of person who feels attracted to this or maybe would even consider this a challenge.

I am not like you.

Not only do I not understand these people...I think they're flat out insane. I can not even begin to grasp what it would be like to have this kind of endurance. I imagine everything else in life would be quite simple compared to this...

Recognized globally as "the world's toughest foot race," this legendary event pits up to 90 of the world's toughest athletes—runners, triathletes, adventure racers, and mountaineers—against one another and the elements. Covering 135 miles (217km) non-stop from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney, CA in temperatures up to 130F (55c), it is the most demanding and extreme running race offered anywhere on the planet.

I was reminded to post about this today because I just read about a 60 year old man who ran it. I am a mouse...

[Bored, Esq.]

"Originally, the run was conceived as being between the lowest and the highest points in the contiguous United States: Badwater, Death Valley (−282 ft) and Mt. Whitney's summit (14,496 ft). The two are only eighty miles apart on the map, but the land route between the two points is substantially longer, 146 miles (235 km), because of detours around lakebeds and over mountain ranges. Additionally, since the finish-line is 11 miles (18 km) from the nearest trailhead, anyone who competes over the 146-mile (235 km) race-distance must be capable of a total physical effort of 157 miles (253 km). Due to the two mountain ranges that must be crossed between Badwater and Whitney, the course's cumulative elevation gain exceeds 19,000 feet (5,800 m).

In later years, as the United States Forest Service required summit permits to climb Mt. Whitney, the official course was shortened to end at Whitney Portal. The Badwater-to-Portal course is 135 miles (217 km) long, with 13,000 feet (4,000 m) of cumulative elevation gain. Forest Service regulations do not allow competitive events in the John Muir Wilderness, however, many runners choose to continue tradition and complete the ascent to Mount Whitney's summit on their own."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badwater_Ultramarathon

[The Torsion]

What I don't understand about any kind of really long distance running like marathons or longer, is that the thrill or the excitement of the challenge would seem to wane pretty fast and then all you have is drudgery and exhaustion. And I personally don't think that the people that participate in this sort of thing, or the Tour De France are necessarily the super-athletes they're given credit for being by the media. A lot of them look sickly and many of them are prone to all sorts of diseases. I mean, as far as athletic talent and conditioning is concerned, I think Manny Pacquiao beats a prime Lance Armstrong ten times out of ten. Part of the problem is that in school, we have it drilled in our heads during PE/Health classes that aerobic conditioning trumps any and all anaerobic and muscle-building. I think that's done to make some kids feel better. Not the fat kids, but the little weak skinny kids. But on the field, the all state running back or linebacker or wrestler or forward or gymnast is still unquestionably in better shape and more athletic than the cross country runner, even if he can't run as far. But you know, the decently in shape yuppie needs a sports hero to look up to who isn't as intimidating, so...

[Cryptoplasty]

What I don't understand about any kind of really long distance running like marathons or longer, is that the thrill or the excitement of the challenge would seem to wane pretty fast and then all you have is drudgery and exhaustion. And I personally don't think that the people that participate in this sort of thing, or the Tour De France are necessarily the super-athletes they're given credit for being by the media. A lot of them look sickly and many of them are prone to all sorts of diseases. I mean, as far as athletic talent and conditioning is concerned, I think Manny Pacquiao beats a prime Lance Armstrong ten times out of ten. Part of the problem is that in school, we have it drilled in our heads during PE/Health classes that aerobic conditioning trumps any and all anaerobic and muscle-building. I think that's done to make some kids feel better. Not the fat kids, but the little weak skinny kids. But on the field, the all state running back or linebacker or wrestler or forward or gymnast is still unquestionably in better shape and more athletic than the cross country runner, even if he can't run as far. But you know, the decently in shape yuppie needs a sports hero to look up to who isn't as intimidating, so...

Truth. I was a skinny track star hero in high school and college, and could run circles around anyone for miles, but I had literally ZERO muscle with like 5 percent body fat.

[The Torsion]

Damn, I wasn't actually expecting anyone to agree with me, what with all the bicycle-obsessed on the board. Especially wasn't expecting an actual cross country runner to agree.

[Cryptoplasty]

The only exception was one of my friends, who was the fastest guy on our cross country team in high school (I was usually 2nd or 3rd man). He only ran his Junior and Senior year, and our schools football coach was trying to get him to play running back, but instead he ran cross county. He went to the state meet in the 55m in indoor track the same year he also WON the sectional meet in cross country and placed 10th at the state meet. This is absolutely unheard of. No one is both a sprinter and a distance runner. You are either good at one or the other, but he was amazing at both. He was also ripped, with basically no body fat, and could squat and bench some ungodly amount of weight. Funny thing is, he never lifted other than to see how much he could max. All he did was run hundreds of miles with us, and even during track seasons he ran with us because he didn't like the sprinting workouts. It was bizarre watching him dust skinny cross country kids like myself. Basically he was an athletic freak.

[Cryptoplasty]

...and by the way, biking is probably the least productive aerobic workout you can do.

[Cryptoplasty]

I suppose if your going that fast and that far, biking can be a good workout. I'm thinking about the average douche whose out there taking a stroll through the town thinking he's burning an entire days worth of calories.

[Cryptoplasty]

.

[caldwell.the.great]

I'll have to ask my dad for the pictures, but the year we went to the top of Mt. Whitney, we saw these guys running as we were driving back towards Vegas through Death Valley. It had to be above 100 degrees that day and that's well above the valley floor on the CA side just before noon. When we made it to Badwater the next day (we camped in the mountains in Death Valley, where it gets down to about 80 at night) the thermometer in our car read 124 degrees. I think that was just before noon as well.

My dad is a marathon runner and is preparing for an Iron Man race, but even he thinks these people are fucking bonkers. I've read articles about the men and women who have won this thing and their entire life revolves about constant training, typically at high temperatures.

One of the women who won a few years back told a reporter that she would go on trips with her husband through the desert wearing sweat pants and cold weather racing gear. Anytime they stopped to get gas, she'd jump out of the car and start running down the road, telling her husband to pick her up once she was done. I admire the dedication, but also wonder at it. The youngest person to finish was 19 y/o and it took him over 33 hours to complete. The men's world record is just over 22 hours.

[Bored, Esq.]

Yeah, 22 hours. What the fuck ever.

I don't really think these people are insane or whatever, but they're so different from me that I have trouble understanding them. For me something like that would be torture...and it would kill me. My mother is a marathon runner (she's 59) and has run about 14 marathons now. She absolutely loves it...that's incomprehensible to me. Whatever is in her that makes her love it is something I didn't inherit from her. Ha!

I was never the "endurance" guy growing up. I was really fast, though, so I ran track and played soccer...and as a soccer player I was always a forward, so I would just stand there for most of the game, get the ball and then get all of the glory, like the other forwards. That suited me just fine.

Armstrong is a dick.

There are all kinds of athletes...I mean, just look at the Olympics. I don't really know what kind of athlete is the best or whatever, I don't care. I know I respect the endurance athletes the most and the weightlifters...the latter because I know what goes into it.