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Running on empty

 Expedition    and wild animals,” says Kostman, “as
 

Running on Empty

 well as landing planes, pianos and
  dinosaurs.” Also, their trainers
 The Badwater Ultramarathon in Death dissolve, and their toenails pop like
 Valley – 135 miles of desert and popcorn. (“It’s brutal!”) Each runner is
 mountain ranges, and temperatures up trailed by a support crew, most in airconditioned
 to 130°F (54°C) – is the ultimate mini-vans, but even the
 endurance test. crews suffer.
  
1    What is the Ultramarathon?5    I heard that, one year, a Japanese
 It is regarded as the most demanding doctor observing the effects of heat
 and extreme race on earth and this on runners passed out herself …
 year it takes place on 12 July. “People pass out in Death Valley just
 According to race director Christ getting out of their cars and walking
 Kostman, “an ultrarunner seeks out across parking lots,” says Kostman.
 epic races in dramatic environments in [id:77660] there are no aid stations
 the harshest conditions.” handing out water along the way. “The
  volunteers would end up in hospital or
2    Are all ultrarunners crazy? dead themselves. It’s just too hot out
 The Londoner who attempted it in a there.”
 furry rabbit suit won’t be back, but a 
 streak of madness fuels all the6    So why do it?
 runners. British entrants include Jack According to Kostman, it’s “the
 Denness, back for his 11th race this connection with nature, the love of the
 year at age 69. His crew motivates him support crew, the challenge of the
 with the promise of a Murphy’s Stout. most hellish race course that’s brutal,
 “They often hold one just out of his yet incredibly beautiful. Many seek to
 reach,” says Kostman. do the race again and again, wanting
  another dose of this immersion in life,
  the Zen-like focus, the absence of all
  distractions beyond moving forward.”
  Despite the alleged loneliness of the
  long-distance runner, Badwater is a
  very sociable event; there’s much
  mutual respect and support within the
  ‘Badwater family’. It’s certainly not for
  the prize, because there isn’t one,
  although those finishing in under 48
 Ultramarathon contestants head up Mount hours receive the ‘Holy Grail’ of
 Whitney in California ultrarunning: the Badwater
 Then there’s US Marine Major Curt Ultramarathon belt buckle.
 Maples, serving in Iraq this year, but a7    So some runners do actually finish?
 beloved Badwater racer. “Two years Indeed. Back in the mid-70s, when Al
 ago he charged across the finish with a Arnold accepted a bet that he couldn’t
 flag in one hand and a full-size sword run across Death Valley and up Mount
 in the other,” recalls Kostman. Whitney, the very idea seemed
  ludicrous, (and actually his first
3    What’s the route? attempt ended when his running mate
 Through Death Valley (282ft below sea collapsed and had to be submerged in
 level), across a couple of mountain a tub of ice in Furnace Creek Ranch).
 ranges and 8,360ft up Mount Whitney, But he succeeded in 1977, as have
 all before the 60-hour cut-off time. many since. Marshall Ulrich of
 Competitors trot along melting tarmac Colorado has a record 11 finishes,
 roads through the blasting hot air of while the fastest finish records are held
 Colfin Peak, Funeral Mountains, and by Anatoli Kruglikov at 25:09:05 and
 Dead Man Pass – some of the most the remarkable Pam Reed, at
 [id:77658] places in the US. 27:56:47. Those who don’t make it,
  keep trying.
4    How do the runners cope? Sorrel Downer
 Completely worn out, sleep-deprived, 
 severely dehydrated runners tend to Information on the Kiehl’s Badwater
 hallucinate. “Runners have seen Ultramarathon, visit
 UFOs, women in bikinis on rollerblades www.badwaterultra.com