10-31-2005, 03:50 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Outdoor Guru
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Little Rock, AR
Posts: 6,439
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Race report from a cool race:
Quote:
Badwater Ultra Marathon 2005- a report
Mimi Anderson writes:
10th July 2005
I have just returned from competing in the 2005 Badwater Ultramarathon. My aim was to finish the race in less than 48 hours in order to qualify for the “Buckle” – a coveted prize for the race.
Badwater Ultramarathon is a 135mile non-stop qualifying invitation only race that starts in Death Valley 282 feet below sea level finishing at the foot of Mt Whitney, the Whitney Portals at 8,360 feet above sea level. There are 13,000 feet of ascent during the race and 4,700 feet of decent!
Runners must cover every inch of the route on foot and must be crewed by a vehicle and a minimum of two crew members. On 7th July myself and my two crew members Tim Welch and Karyn Moore arrived in Las Vegas. We hired a mini van as the support vehicle and stocked it up with all the essentials for the race including approximately 150 litres of water!!
The race started on 11th July. There are three waves of starters 6am, 8am and 10am. I was later to discover that you are given a start time according to your times in previous races so I was a bit shocked and very nervous to find that I had been allocated the 10am start with ALL the top runners – not that I was panicking of course!!
The Canadian National Anthem was sung, as we had a large contingent of Canadian supporters!! This was followed by the American National Anthem, accompanied by a CD player sitting on top of a car. Then we
counted down and we were off! The top runners seemed to go off like bullets so I had to pretend they weren’t there, not panic and do my own thing (easier said than done when you don’t like being at the back of the pack!!)
I ran the whole of the first section (v. slowly) arriving at the first Check Point (CP) 17.4 miles in 3 hrs 20 minutes. (Furnace Creek Ranch) My crew checked me in and I carried on running. My crew would meet up with me every mile, changing my drinks, giving me electrolyte pills and spraying me with water – something that Karen seemed to take great pleasure in!!! The temperatures soared to 130 degrees and the sun was relentless.
After CP1 there was a marvelous 15 mile section of relatively flat/downhill, which was a great relief, because at 30 miles the hills begin… gently at first, then UP UP UP!! One of the other crews noticed that my legs were very red and had come up in hives – Tim came to the rescue with his sun precaution trousers! Between miles 35 to 38ish I felt very tired, but my crew as usual got me through it and kept me going. I arrived at CP2 42 miles in 9 hrs 35 mins (Stovepipe Wells Village). That’s when the hard work begins!!
For the next 17 miles the course heads uphill, starting at sea level and climbing to 4,965 feet. And then, just when you think its over, there’s a 9 mile downhill section going back down to 1,640 feet! (down hills are definitely not all they are cracked up to be!!) Tim and Karyn had been taking it in turns to keep me company during this stage as it was dark. The sky was stunning and covered in a blanket of stars, I spotted quite a few shooting starts which sadly Karyn missed as she was far too busy chatting!! (She chatted no stop to everyone, encouraging other runners and passing on tips to other crews!!) I eventually reached CP 3 72.3 miles (Panamint Springs Resort) in 19hrs 10 mins. The temperature at night was still high 80 – 100 degrees.
And then guess what – another hill section – 22 miles 1,750 feet to 5,050 feet above sea level, arriving at CP 4 at 90.1 miles (Darwin). I made this in 24 hrs and 53 mins. I had set myself a target of reaching the 90 mile mark in 24 hrs so I was quite pleased with my time at this stage.
Getting to the next CP seemed to go on forever and ever. My left foot was hurting due to three very large blisters which Tim had dealt with marvelously and my quads were extremely painful due to all the ups and downs. Just to make matters worse I was extremely tired – but this is what endurance racing is all about so there was no complaining allowed!. Karyn and Tim came to the rescue again. They sat me down for 10 mins while I downed a Red Bull. It’s a disgusting drink but effective. Within a few minutes the caffeine kicked in and I was off like a little bullet! The next CP (Dow Villa Hotel) at 122.3 miles seemed miles away as the road was fairly flat and you could see forever, so I was getting a bit frazzled at this stage – music to the rescue! Tim went on ahead to check where the CP was (just so we didn’t do any more mileage than necessary!) and Karyn stayed with me keeping me going. Hoorah. I made CP5 in 35 hours 39 mins. And what a marvelous sight it was! Now there was just 13 - hard - miles to go!!
I suppose, when the race organizers were putting the race together, they decided it would be highly amusing to finish on a hill. And not any old hill, but a 13 mile hill with nearly 5000 feet of climbing. It started at 3,610 feet and finished at 8,360 feet! Thankfully it was dark so I was unable to see how steep the road was. I was hallucinating quite a lot, with the trees and rocks turning into very large teddy bears. At this stage of the race I was so tired I was falling asleep on my feet, much to the frustration of my crew as the end was so near! Again Tim and Karyn took it in turns to walk – or should I say stagger with me up the hill. I was literally falling asleep on my feet and would find myself going in completely the wrong direction as I woke up! This time it was Pro-plus to the rescue. Thankfully kicked in two miles before the finish. Karyn parked the van and joined Tim and me on the final couple of miles. We finished in 41 hours and 5 mins. MARVELLOUS! – and the “Buckle” was mine.
I came 23rd out of 81 starters, 6th female and 1st Brit!!
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*** Today's mighty oak was once just some nut who held his ground! With most men, unbelief in one thing springs from blind belief in another.
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