The Badwater – Salton Sea edition is a 81 mile race. “This remarkable event challenges up to 25 teams of two or three ultrarunners – running together as duos or trios for the duration, NOT in a relay – to tackle an unimaginable traverse of Southern California deserts and mountains. The route covers 81 miles (130km) non-stop from below sea level at the shoreline of the Salton Sea, across, up, and over Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, to the top of Palomar Mountain” (website).
Runners:
Bill Clements
I am excited to run Salton Sea this weekend!
After just running the Boston Marahon last weekend I was a little worried about how I would feel but recovery is coming along good and I had a solid run this weekend. The biggest fear for me now is the heat as I’ve had basically ZERO heat training leading up to this thing. As Ben says though we’ll just slow it down and hydrate. I really don’t know what to expect for this race! It’s not a 100 miles, but its more than a 100k.
It’s not a hard trail race but it’s exposed and there is a lot of road running.
This race is unlike anything I’ve ever run before It will be interesting and I look forward to the challenge!
Ben Johnson
Badwater Salton Sea. The name just sounds cool. I never heard of the Salton sea until I found out about this race. And after I found out it was a 3 person team race I knew I wanted to race it and with who. Los tres amigo`s!
Being race week I feel that I’m 90% ready. This will be my longest race yet and I’m glad to be racing it with Paulo and Billy. These guys have long hard races under their belts with names like western states, leadville and UTMB. I feel we can push one another and have a blast for the first 30 miles and hopefully not choke each other the other 51.
I think I’m ready. My fitness and long slow endurance feels great right now. Though I try to justify this races price I think it will be a epic trip through the heat and sand and ruins of the once resort. I’m concerned about the heat not having time to acclimate otherwise I
Lets do this! I love the desert:-)
Paulo Medina
Lately I have been spending more time organizing events than actually running them. Getting STR off the ground is
really taking a lot of work and dedication, but for once in my life, I am not just loving what I do, but falling in love with it. That being said, I am looking forward to spend a great weekend running with my closest friends, Ben, and Bill, while having an amazing crew chasing us for 81 miles through the desert.
After Gorge 100k I took about 3 weeks off from running. Both of my feet were in severe pain, it was very difficult to walk after the race. I had pain on both of my feet on the outer sides… Dr. Google.com came up with several diagnostics, but at the end, I just needed some time away from running.
Last week was my first week back running, clocking a total of 86 miles for the week. I feel great, legs feel great, feet feel great. The heat though… that is another thing that I have not been able to prepare for, so it makes me feel good to hear that my team-mates are just as worried about that as I am.
The Crew:
Badwater – Salton Sea has a very similar format to Badwater 135. There are no aid stations, runners start from below sea level, and finish up high on a mountain. For this race we recruited the best people we knew for the job. Very experienced runners, and self proclaimed beer connoisseurs, what could go wrong with that!
Krista Cavender – Pine to Palm 100 Finisher and Crossfit Junkie
Kelly “Maggie” Akyüz – Zion 100 & Fat Dog 120 Finisher
Clint Welch – RDL100 & SD100 Finisher