Badwater 135: The Heat Is On!

 

Photo Credit: @overallgooddaygirl

    "Yes dear, I promise I will never run Badwater 135; I'm not even interested in running it, that's crazy even for my standards." Yes I said all of that just 3 years ago, and in all honesty, I meant every word when I said them. Then, out of the blue came a call from Ray Sanchez looking for another team member to run the Badwater Salton Sea (baby Badwater) an 81 mile 3 person team race across the Anza Borrego desert  starting at the Salton Sea and finishing at the top of Palomar Mountain. After convincing the wife that it wasn't actually Badwater, I accepted the offer and joined the team. I had so much fun running Salton Sea that I of course agreed to be a part of Ray's Badwater crew in 2019. That's when the bug bit and I realized if I was ever to make it past the strict entry process for the race, that I would have to apply for the following year.

   

     Sure enough I was one of the 100 runners selected to run Badwater 2020, so I trained and I trained HARD; Long runs on pavement every weekend, copious amounts of time running in layers in the middle of the hottest time of the day. I was fit, heat trained and all around prepared to suffer and only one obstacle stood in my way: Covid-19! After battling for months to make the race happen it inevitable was cancelled a week before the race date. I was crushed, I was mad, I felt defeated, Covid had ultimately won Badwater 2020.

     2021 started with unfinished business and with a guaranteed entry into Badwater 2021 it was a no brainer to sign up and get my training into gear. I was now in a new age group, out of shape following all sorts of craziness that transpired in 2020 and early this year so, getting my fitness back and ready for Badwater would prove to be a bigger challenge this time around. My training leading up to this years' race was sub par at best. I struggled to get the miles in when I could, only completing a handful of long runs and heat training really didn't begin till a month before the race. Regardless I was at peace with myself this year and I was determined to soak it in, enjoy the journey and let the cards fall where the may. Fortunately, I was a lot more ready to tackle Badwater than I knew. 

    

     Badwater 135 is all about extremes, so it was no surprise as I pulled into Furnace Creek on Sunday that all the crews were extremely organized veteran crews prepping their mini vans in their matching outfits, going over routines and nutrition strategies. I felt very under prepared as our 3 person team pulled up in our Subaru CUV with everything crammed in the back. I had no concrete food strategy, a loose pacing strategy and my whole crew consisted of Badwater newbies. It didnt matter though, I had assembled the absolute best crew in the desert! My wife Desirae knows me better than I do since she has crewed me at all my races and is a pro in her own right (also she is just beautiful and so forgiving of broken promises!). Brett Goldsmith has paced me at almost every one of my hundred milers and knows the art of when to use humor, offer support or just shut up and run; its a fine balance and an art he has mastered. Ben Atkins is undeniably one of the best runners in Southern California. He has paced just about everyone on their Backbone FKT attempts and has a calm and reassuring attitude that proved to be key running 135 miles through the desert. The biggest take away of all this is that you can try and prepare for anything that might happen during such an extreme event, but a crew that knows what to do and how to respond to problems that WILL arise is ultimately the best tool to finish a race.

    After the true endurance event of waiting all day for the race to start, I found myself standing at Badwater Basin (North Americas lowest point at 282ft below sea level) at 11:00pm in a nice cool 100F.  As we took off, I knew I wanted to run 10 minute miles for the first 42 miles getting myself to Stovepipe Wells before the sun fully rose. Even with a rough headwind I was able to stay steady and hit the planned pace right on the bullseye; still feeling great when I got there. 

  @overallgooddaygirl

      Arriving in Stovepipe Wells I was greeted with the first climb of the race, the start of the sun beating down but, gratefully, also the start of running with my pacers. I quickly changed into lighter color rabbit FKT shorts, EZ Tee Perf LS rabbit shirt, some calf sleeves and hat for full coverage from the suns relentless rays. I also changed out of my max cushioned Altra Paradigms into my lighter colored medium cushioned Altra Torins; this outfit worked perfectly for the long day in the sun.

    The loooong, gruelingly hot 18 mile climb up Townes Pass went by surprisingly quick as I mix a few recovery walks in with mostly jogging all the way to the top. This lead into the biggest downhill (one of the only) of the race, gonna run it fast right? Wrong.. although it felt nice to change up the muscle group by running downhill, we are now in the hottest part of the day and legs are starting to feel a little fatigue. The lower we got the hotter it got! We were now in Panamint Valley and its HOT, in the words of Desirae "I now know what my meatloaf feels like in the oven!". It was definitely the hottest part of the race at around 121F. As we made our way to Panamint Springs "Resort" off in the distance, we were treated to one of the highlights of the day as a fighter jet buzzed over us only about 50ft off the ground! This stopped all of us in our tracks as we stood now deaf with our jaws on the floor! With huge smiles on our faces, we finished the final few miles into the town where I stopped for a quick bite of real food and a bathroom break before heading out to the second climb of the day.

   Photo Credit: @overallgooddaygirl

     The Father Crowley climb is shorter than Towne Pass but steeper and hotter. As we got higher up  Father Crowley, I expected it to get cooler, but I was wrong again! The higher we got the more the wind blew at us like a convection oven...poor meatloaf! In this section the crew vehicle is only allowed to stop in designated areas due to the curvy tight blind turns. Long sections of steep hot climbs between aid made this section tough but, I just put my head down and powered to the top knowing that gradual down hill and cooler temperatures awaited me. Sure enough the temperatures -while still hot at well over 100F- mellowed out some and we made our way through a uneventful and rather boring section of the race on our way to Darwin.

Photo Credit: @overallgooddaygirl

    Darwin was a little time station in the middle of nowhere that I passed by moving very well all the way through this section to mile 100 in about 20 hours before the preverbal shit hit the fan. The sun was starting to go down and we were on a flat, sometime rolling section of the course where you could see the lights of Lone Pine in the distance about 20 miles away.  This was by far the longest 20 miles of my life! Every mile felt like it took an hour and the closer we got to Lone Pine the further Lone Pine got away from us. Convince the torture would never end, my attitude took a downturn and I stop eating, which made the situation even worse. My bad attitude and lack of eating made my crew go mad also. We were all mad, exhausted and ready for the race to be done, FU Lone Pine, come to me already. 

     

    After what felt like days and multiple adult tantrums, the hallelujah moment came as I reached the intersection into Lone Pine. With renewed spirits and ONLY a half marathon to go, I felt refreshed and ready to push on up to the portal. Two days ago my memory of running this section with Ray lead me to give my pacers false hope that it was "mostly flat with about 4 mile of uphill at the very end"; Boy was I wrong...AGAIN!

Photo credit: @overallgooddaygirl

     The climb to the portal is typically a brutal death march of @4,300 ft of elevation gain after already completing over 120 miles. After tackling the first part of the climb with Brett through the Alabama hills section with a relatively quick pace considering the days events, I took a moment to catch my breath and have a quick break by the car while my pacers got ready to switch off. "You are in 4th" Ben tells me as I  was trying to find the motivation to make it those final 8 miles. Having not known (or really cared) what position I was in all day, hearing those words at that moment was exactly what I needed to light that final fire under my ass. Although I was told I was solidly in 4th, the lights I could see coming at me as I hit the switch back made me think that the chase was on. With Ben at lead playing his epic sound track of Han Zimmerman and the Proclaimers counting down the miles (And I would walk 500 mile....) the finish line seemed to get closer and closer. 

     Some how, despite my exhaustion and every part of my body screaming for me to stop we powered up  the mountain quickly and before I knew it, we had made it through the pitch black, eerie roads that lead us to the final turn with the finish line in sight. Elated, with 50 yard left, my whole rookie crew joined hands and together we triumphantly cross the finish line with a time of 28:56:38 good enough for 4th place overall. 

     It was an indescribable feeling crossing that finish line and celebrating with race staff and my crew. No sooner had a stopped moving than I was standing there in a surreal moment taking pictures with Chris Kostman and talking about my experience. As we talked, my head started spinning and my legs began to feel weak so I reached for a chair and told everyone I was about to go down. "No you're not!" Desirae states as my crew quickly gets to work once more keeping me in top shape. With some Starburst to boost my sugar levels and blankets to warm me back up, I slowly began to come back to the land of the living and was ready to head down the hill towards a beer and a bed! WHAT a race!!! Not sure what could top this one, until then a beer to celebrate and another trail to run...

    A huge thanks to my amazing crew Desirae, Brett and Ben for helping me survive in such a inhospitable environment. You cooled me off, cheered me up, fed me and kept me moving forward, no way I could have finished Badwater without you guys! Thank you rabbit running for the continued support and the amazing clothing that withstood the ultimate test in the desert. I stayed cool and comfortable and, dang I looked good doing it! Thank you Altra Running for your support and for making the best shoes on the market, 135 miles in 120F and no foot issues whatsoever! Also wanted to say thanks for all my friends, family and team mates for all the positive words of encouragement and following along!

Angeles Crest 100 2019: Sweet Redemption

The Angeles Crest 100 is summed up as the local ass kicker. With 20,000ft+ of vertical gain on some rough, hot, technical trails, it is a test of all-around fitness. I ran AC100 in 2015 on a slightly different course (Red Box out and back section was added to replace mileage lost on the Pacific Crest Trail) in a time of 22:49, good enough for a 5^th place overall finish. Ever since 2015 I have wanted to come back and run it again, but the past few years the race has been riddled with course changes, political BS and just overall drama; so I kept away and waited for the smoke to clear out. Making promises this year that I would stay local in my race schedule, I signed up for San Diego 100 and the Angeles Crest 100 as two “local” primo races in Southern California.

  Pre Race

My training leading up to San Diego was less than optimal, but I made the best out of what I had. Between work stress, taking care of three kids and Desirae finishing up her degree, I had a tough time fitting in the mileage I wanted in order to place on the podium for SD100. Going in to SD100 I was still optimistic about doing well as I thought it would be a course that would suite my running, but I found out quickly that was not the case. San Diego 100 went wrong from the very beginning, from not having Desirae there to crew me (although my brother Keith kick butt as a one man crew) to begging for a pacer (thank you Cris Fransisco for stepping up and doing a fantastic job), it seemed to quickly spiraled out of control. I made several errors running SD100 including going out too fast, not managing my nutrition properly and not managing the heat well. Although I have paced at San Diego before, I did not have a chance to preview the course and it ended up being a lot more technical than I anticipated. Instead of slowing down to adapt to the terrain, I pushed on at an unsustainable pace and got caught up in the battle for a podium spot. Well all this came down to a boil when I hit mile 65, on a steep (and runable) downhill I felt a sharp pain in my knee that reduced me to a slow walk into the aid station. After toughing it out for another 7 miles on a return uphill the pain only got worse. I ultimately decided to pull the plug as to not injure myself further and to concentrate on the Angeles Crest 100.

 Not only was my first DNF at San Diego 100 a huge blow to my confidence and ego, it made me question my running all together. After a few weeks of licking my wounds, I realized a DNF at SD100 was a blessing in disguise as I needed to approach my training for Angeles Crest differently. I focused on recovery, going to a chiropractor for several weeks and a sport masseuse to work on my tight hamstrings and sore ITB. Instead of lamenting on my low mileage weeks I made the best out of what I had and did some quality workouts instead of “junk” miles. I paced Badwater for heat training, I ran parts of the AC100 course to familiarize myself with the terrain again, but most importantly I worked out my mental muscles. I spent more quality time with my family, and I did my best to find joy in my running again instead of turning running into a chore. I also reassessed my goals for AC100; I would go into AC with the mindset of just finishing and having fun while doing so, I threw out any goals of a podium finish or even a personal record. Because of all this, I showed up in Wrightwood happy, positive and ready to run!

 Race

Its Saturday 4:50 A.M. I kissed the wife and kid before I lined up behind the starting arch, got my watch synched up adjusted my headlamp and before you know it 5,4,3,2,1!  Running the first mile takes you through the streets of Wrightwood, fully expecting to burst out of the gate, I suddenly realize that its uphill all the way to the Acorn trail, so I tucked in at the front of the mid pack as the lead runners charged off way too fast for me. I alternated running and hiking all the way up the Acorn trail probably still pushing my pace too quick, I wanted to go out at a faster pace as to not be stuck behind slower runners, but it looked as though many others had the same idea. I had a runner right behind me uncomfortably on my heels as he keeps blowing snot rockets, all I could think of is one landing on my neck. Annoyed, I stepped to the side of the trail to let him by. At the top of Acorn we hit an amazing stretch of single-track on the PCT that winds its way above Mt. High ski resort, amazing views as the sun started to rise and the running was effortless.  I really enjoyed this section running with my buddy Vishal all the way to Vincent Gap (mile 14), where the real work began.

PC: Paksitphotos

After I took some time at the aid station cooling down, donning my hydration vest and getting in some calories, I started the long steep switchback ascent up Mt. Baden Powell. I went to take a sip of water and nothing came out I realize my H2O bladder was connected wrong, so I again stepped off the trail to fix my snafu. After getting this situated, I made a strong power hike up the mountain. I passed several hikers in the section up Baden Powell as many snickered, laughed or told me the loved my bib number, I don’t blame them as I was #69 (no I didn’t pick that number, I was randomly assigned). As I reached the top of the climb Monica Morant was there to cheer me on and point me down the right trail, good to see a smiling face! Breathing the thin air at the highest point on the course, I ran along some precarious ridge lines while my head was spinning. Just when I thought the climbing was done we made our way up a smaller ascent before a nice long descent all the way down into Islip Saddle (Mile 25).

PC: Ivan Buzik

I was greeted with a huge crowd and lots of cheers as I came into Islip Saddle aid station. At this point in the race, my 2 year old son Zach running with me in through the aid station was a treat. I took some time to cool down and took off my vest before heading out onto the road section of the course.
Just when I thought I would get some relief after the tough Baden Powell section, the road absolutely destroyed me. Don’t get me wrong I still made good time through here, but the road was almost all uphill and just hot as the sun, to add to the misery my ITB started acting up. Seriously overheated (and grouchy per the wife) I cooled down at Cloudburst Aid Station and headed off to finish the road and get back on the trail. After another 2 miles on road I was treated to a great trail section leading to 3 Points Aid Station, felt great to get off the road and onto the trail as I ran this section well. The Section from 3 Point to Chilao was uneventful as I had had some great and not so great sections, I was determined to get to where I could pick my pacer up at Chilao and just pushed on.

PC: Paksitphotos

As with all 100-mile races curveballs will often be thrown into the mix, I noticed a lack of anticipated pacers present as I entered Chilao aid station. Crap, well no time to sulk around and wait, so off I went with Ben Adkins subbing in pacing duties for 2 miles out of the aid station before he had to return to take care of his own runner. I ran the next 2 miles on my own through the blazing hot canyon till low and behold Ryan (my pacer) comes running me down like a freight train, what a great surprise as I expected to run all the way to Shortcut aid on my own! The section to Shortcut was very hot and took its damage on me as I was overheating on the climb up to the aid station. I took ample time to cool off here as I knew the next section to Redbox was a long haul. I think taking my time at Shortcut must have worked wonders because I ran the section all the way to Redbox very well and really enjoyed it (save the last mile), surprising myself as I was forewarned that this section destroys a lot of runners with a high drop rate at Redbox! Continuing with a solid high I blazed a path down a much anticipated 3-mile downhill section out of Redbox clocking some of my fastest splits of the day.



But things started to get interesting on the way up to Newcomb Saddle, the steady grade fire road all the way up to Newcomb and my new found energy offered me a chance to make up some solid time as I climbed up really well, alternating a fast power hike and steady running all the way in. Well I think the fast downhill mixed with a solid uphill into Newcomb did my pacer Ryan in as I slowly started to pull away and never looked back. Ryan is a great runner and I have never “dropped” a pacer before so I was completely surprised and I wasn’t sure what to think of the situation but, had to get my butt into gear and into Chantry as quick as I could as the sun was starting to set. I made it about 3-4 miles down the technical Sturdevent trail before I needed to put on my headlamp, it turns out my headlamp was super dim and kept falling down my head, a bad section to have headlamp issues. I took the rest of the section into Chantry at a slower clip as to not destroy my race by twisting an ankle or falling on my face.

Coming into Chantry it was very apparent to my crew that I was down a person and this confused everyone. After explaining my situation I donned a new headlamp, got in some much needed calories/fluids and picked up Brett before we headed out to the very tough last 25 miles of the race. I took a steady approach all the way up to Mt. Wilson fire road and only running flats or downhills (very little) and just steady hiked all the steep ups (lots), as I knew I wanted to save some leg for good downhill sections coming up. Running down Mt. Wilson fire road was electric as we ran a great pace and stared off into the amazing sight of the lights of Los Angeles below us! I was in and out of the Idlehour aid station fast as I looked forward to descending into Idlehour campground.

Just one more big climb to tackle and its downward the rest of the way home! But, just one more big uphill at mile 86 up Sam Merrill is no easy task and I had to earn the downhill running that follows. Tucking in behind another runner I hiked up Sam Merrill at a slower than I wanted to pace as I knew I wanted to hold back and save leg for a fast finish. At the top of Sam Merrill I took my magic concoction (5 hour energy and Advil), let the heart rate come down and set off on the most technical section of the entire race. The next 2-3 miles were a mental dance of concentration on a tired legs, telling myself to just survive this section and it would be home free. My magic concoction now kicking in, I ran a fast clip up the Mt. Lowe Railway catching and passing a runner in front of me and giving myself a good head start down the fun trail into the last aid station Millard Campground. Although I had fun running downhill to Millard, I somehow got passed back up by the runner I passed a few miles back, so I put on the burners and passed him right back before the aid station. The race was on!

Great move, so I thought, but I stopped to refill my bottle while Brett fixed his headlamp and the runner blew right on through without stopping. After a final small uphill section, it was down El Prieto. Although not my favorite section as it undulates and crosses a stream several times, I still made solid time running through this section as I could smell the barn. I passed two other runners in a 2 mile section as Brett took the lead and pushed into the 7:30-8:00 min/mile pace at mile 98-99, I felt great as we turn onto the street and I could see another runner in front of me two blocks ahead, I briefly thought of running him down. I decided to take the last mile easy as the emotions of the last 22 hours coursed through me and I let the runner go, one last turn onto Palm and I could see/hear the finish line, such a great feeling to run across the grass through the finish line.

PC: Ivan Buzik

A 20-minute PR for me as I come across in 22:29:52 good enough for 6^th place overall, only 1 minute off 5^th place. I am super happy with the results as I came into the race only looking to finish with a huge maybe on a Silver Buckle, no way did I expect a PR or a top 10 finish this year. I finish yet again with tons of energy and my body still intact, no injuries (I didn’t fall or twist an ankle), no blisters, no GI or stomach issues! I came away from AC100 this year with another Silver Buckle and redemption from SD100. I must be doing something right with these 100 mile races and I look forward to running another already, but until then a beer to celebrate and another trail to run..

Thanks

 20K feet of climbing, 22K feet descending on dusty technical trail and once again my feet come out unscathed thanks to Altra Lone Peak 4.0, its is really nice to not have to ever worry about foot issues and be able to run in comfort, I really cant thank Altra enough for their support!

The Angeles Crest 100 really is about managing the heat with 90-100F temps all day. In the dry and hot San Gabriels, my rabbit running FKT shorts, hulk and champ shirt did an amazing job keeping me cool by letting me breath while holding moisture all day in comfort without chafing and seriously looking good while doing so! What a winning combo.. Thank you rabbit for your endless support!

I would like to thank my not so secret weapon during 100 miles, my main support, my beautiful wife Desirae; I seriously couldn't do it without you! What a treat having our son Zachary there cheering me on and running through aid stations with me! Not only did Desirae take care of all my needs but she also took care of Zachary. Thank you to all the random crews that also helped entertain and watch my son while Desirae attended to me, what an amazing community we have trail running!

As always thank you to my pacers Ryan Hogan and Brett Goldsmith for keeping me entertained, sane and most importantly, keeping me alive! They sacrifice a lot to come out and chase me through the mountains all while dealing with their own set of issues.. Ryan you WILL conquer the AC100 demon on your shoulder one of these days (damn you RB and NS) and I will be there to help you do so. Brett your a great friend and pacer, can't wait to chase you around Tahoe!

Thank you to all the volunteers, ham radio, search and rescue and RDs, so much goes into putting on a race and I appreciate every single person out there helping! Huge thanks to everyone who followed along at home and sent encouraging words!

I definitely felt a presents out there, especially pulling me through the last 25 miles, and all I could do is smile because I know Dave Liston was there to guide my way. Gone but never forgotten you will always be in our hearts and in the mountains!

Badwater Salton Sea

      "Hi Kenny Ringled, this is Ray Sanchez (multiple Badwater 135 finisher), my buddy Andrew Glaze said your a good runner and mention you were interested in running Badwater someday". That's all it really took for me to agree to joining the shenanigans that is the Badwater Salton Sea, that and the okay from my wife. See I have a slight FOMO issue and I am easily persuaded to do stupid things; this can be good and bad though. Good that I get a chance to experience many thing I would never have if I always said no, but bad in that I end up doing too much sometimes; hence why I have over raced the first half of the year. Hell I cant even keep up with all the race reports..

     Badwater Salton Sea takes you 81 miles from the shores of the Salton Sea (-234ft) to Palomar Mountain (5,500ft) for 9000ft total gain, through a mix of road (73 miles) and trail (8 miles) in temperatures ranging from 95 F to 40 F temperatures! The unique part of Badwater Salton Sea though is that you run all 81 miles as a 3 person (or two person) team. Not a relay but, together the whole time, you have to stay within 25ft of your teammates at all times. It is therefore key to choosing compatible partners as you want runner that runner at relatively the same pace as you and partners that you are not going to murder during the 15-25 hrs of running together.

    7:00AM Start at the shores of the Salton Sea, I see a few people walking with Badwater flags into the "sand" just kinda deciding that it was a good starting point, love the laid back vibe of this race! The sun coming up over the Salton Sea mixed with the scent of sulfur and the nervous energy of the runners made for a fantastic start to a race! The first 3-4 miles were along roads paralleling the shore of Salton Sea and all the teams are trying to find there pace. The first 7 miles are without crew but it didn't matter much because it was still relatively cool and everyone was still feeling fresh. However, Miles 7 gas station aid station was a mad house of crews waiting on there runners and felt kinda hectic. Quick exchange of bottles and donning of the hot weather essentials we were off on the hot endless road that would take us to Borrego Springs.

    The next 30 miles would be run along the long vast highway in the heat of the day, here is where the true taste of Badwater really began. Our team, "Chasing Who?"- Consisting of Ray Sanchez, Tim Tubra and myself along with our crew of Sergio Medina and Candy- had the strategy of running a consistent pace of 9:45 min/miles. We expertly paced ourselves at 9:45 min/miles for the first 30 miles of the race, every 2 to 3 miles our crew (who by the way was the best crew out there, I mean for real!) would leap frog to cool us down with an ice bath, exchange our bottles and freshly chilled bandannas! The feeling was amazing, it was hot, it was steady, it was beautiful and I felt like I could run at that pace forever. Just as we were about to enter the town of Borrego Springs, Tim played poltergeist on us by ejecting in stomach demons all over the sun baked asphalt. Our consistent pace slowed to a FAST walk as we tried to get Tim's stomach settled and refueled. Soon our walk turned into a mix of walk and run the remaining 2 miles into the Borrego Springs aid station.

     The trend continues as we push out of Borrego Springs aid, walk and run, except.. wait for it.. Pizza! Glorious pizza never tasted so good to me until mile 38 of Salton Sea, as Tim's stomach settle some we were able to push the pace a little to the trailhead at mile 40. Was really looking forward to getting off of the pavement and onto the trail. I Changed out of my Altra Torins and into my Altra Superiors, donned a hydration vest and we set out on a steep 95 F power hike up! Power hike we did, like fast and hard, probably faster hiking it then I would have trying to run it, 95F+ turned into a chilly 60F wind as we approached the top of the climb. We made great time through the trail section as we had made up 30 minutes on the lead team. Altra Superiors off and Altra Kayentas on, a slice of pizza as we set off to Ranchita.

      Made it into Ranchita just in time for Tims stomach to start revolting again, mandatory picture with the Rancheti, more pizza, off on a long walk to settle the stomach as Tim rehydrated himself with some salts. Well apparently we should have busted the salts out sooner because the salts started doing the trick as the walk turned into a shuffle in turn to a run again, we were ticking off some of our fastest splits of the race! As night started to creep in we put on our reflective gear with our eyes set on a big push up Palomar Mountain, we reassess our goal and realized we still had a chance for sub 17hr finish. Lake Henshaw lodge was our last check in point and we were all feeling great as we start passing other teams on our way to East Grade Road.

      I felt great going up East Grade road for the first few miles, we were running at a quick pace up the steep grade and was very confident we would have sub 17 in the bag at this point with how well we were moving. Than things started to hurt, as much as I tried to not show any discomfort I would be lieing to say I wasn't struggling, my left quad was shot which is strange seeing as there is very little downhill during the race and I never had quad issues before. Regardless I pushed on despite the pain. It was too close to slow now, but we were all starting to slow, we would run 2 minutes walk 2 minutes and keep this routine into the fog and all the way up the mountain, things got quiet as we were all in the zone and ready to be done! Hit the Firehouse with one mile to go, just hammering up the last large hill of the day and all of a sudden out of nowhere I could see the finish line.

     2nd place 3 man team and 3rd team overall in a time of 17:23:03. Although this effort was not good enough for a guaranteed entry in Badwater 135 it was great learning experience and was a ton of fun! The first place team Electrolyte Love (with Walker Higgins and Jake Jackson) were just solid all day and came out with a 3 person team course record, congrats to them. Special thanks to Ray Sanchez for letting me join his team and for passing along lots of hot running knowledge, to Tim Tubra for keeping us all entertained and for pushing through some stomach issues, your one tough mofo! Big thank you to Chris Kostman for doing an amazing job directing such a awesome race. Thank you Altra Running for making not 1 or 2 but 3 pairs of kick ass shoes that got me through some hot miles with no damage to my feet! Thanks to rabbit for making me look good while managing to stay cool and comfortable in the heat. I have been invited to crew Ray Sanchez later this year during his Badwater 135 attempt and really look forward to possibly running Badwater myself sometime in the future, IF I can convince Desirae to let me do so... Until then a beer to celebrate and another trail to run...