By: Eric Tadt
Mile 0 – 17.5 (3 hours 23 minutes)
My race started at 9:30pm at the Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park, CA. It was 115°F with a hot wind; almost claustrophobic. Took me about 10 miles to settle into a rhythm. It was so hot during this section; the wind felt like a cluster of blow dryers, relentlessly blowing. My throat was parched right away, but I kept telling myself that it felt similar to my heat training. Even though I had dreamt of running this section for more than a decade, I was so hot and ready to be done with it after just a couple hours. It didn’t matter how much ice was in bottles or hat, or how much water the crew would spray on me – I would be hot and dry within minutes. I was very careful in this section to watch my pace and effort.
Mile 17.5 – 42.3 (5 hours 11 minutes)
This stretch was all in the dark and very long, but we broke it down into 2 mile sections. The crew would leapfrog head of me every two miles, where we would swap out bottles and ice, and spray me down with water for artificial sweating – you don’t sweat in the 110°F desert with 6-8% humidity! This part of the road had many short climbs and twists and turns. I never felt too hot during this stretch, just tried to enjoy the experience. The moon was incredibly bright in the desert.
Mile 42.3 – 72.7 (10 hours 9 minutes)
I experienced a lifetime of highs and lows during this segment. I threw up everything I ate over the past couple hours at mile 48 – mainly fruit and my drink mix, Perpetuem. After a 10min nap in the air-conditioned van, we continued up the mountain. Shortly after leaving the van, I met a fellow runner who offered me ginger ale, papaya extract, and a banana to cure my stomach ailments – her generosity was perfectly timed and helped significantly! Slowly, but surely, we made progress up Townes Pass (18 mile climb). I wasn’t eating much during this stretch, just a few pretzels and PB&J sandwiches. Summiting Townes Pass was definitely a highlight of the race! We ran the 9 miles down the other side of the mountain towards Panamint Flats – the long down was crushing my quads even as I tried to run relaxed and not brake. Once we reached the desert at the bottom, I slowed to a hike as the heat rose to 110°F with a hot cross wind. I could feel the heat building to an unsustainable level and around mile 71, just one mile before the Time Station, I melted down. I took a 10min break in the car to cool off and another 5min nap. After eating some solid food, I got back on the road and pushed on.
Mile 72.7 – 90.6 (6 hours 12 minutes)
The first few miles up the next mountain, Father Crowley (17 mile climb), went fine. Besides some dry heaving, I held down my water and a little bit of food. Near mile 76, I came to a mental crossroad. I didn’t know if I had the will to keep going or if I was tough enough to make it another 60 miles; I was so incredibly thirsty and had barely ate anything since mile 48. I sat down on the back bumper of the van and had a heart to heart conversation with my crew; I wasn’t sure I was made of the right stuff. We had just 0.6mi to the next crew stop, and that was all it took for the crew to develop a plan to get us to the finish line. They decided to put me back on my original plan of taking almost exclusively liquid calories from Perpetuem. The pacer would carry my water and Perpetuem to help control the amount of water I was drinking, and we would increase my Endurolyte intake to help control the thirst. The crew was fair, yet strict, and they helped turn my attitude around. By mile 80, I had several good miles of hiking and drinking – I knew at this point, I could finish.
Mile 90.6 – 122.7 (9 hours 21 minutes)
This segment was during our second night in another long stretch of desert. We could see Lone Pine (mile 122) when we crested this second mountain at mile 90. However, I put my head down and kept putting one foot in front of the other. We broke this stretch up into 3 mile sections to allow the crew to drive ahead and get a few minutes of sleep between stops. I struggled with hallucinations and sleep deprivation just before dawn. I was seeing emails instead of the white stripe on the roadway; and rocks on the left side of the road were turning into carefully laid out purses like at a garage sale. I took a strictly monitored 4min nap around 4:00am, and woke up rejuvenated.
Mile 122.7 – 135 (4 hours 26 minutes)
We ran through Lone Pine just as the town was waking and the sun was rising. We made quick work running past the Time Station, and turned onto the Portal Road. I ran as far as I could up the climb, and then began hiking up the road. It began to get hot again and the road got steeper and steeper. I put on all my heat gear again; white arm sleeves and white hat with the flap. The final four miles were the steepest of the entire race! I put one foot in front of the other, recording the final miles toward Mt Whitney all under 25 minute pace. My dad joined me for the last mile and the rest of the crew met us with 0.1 miles to go. It was an exhilarating and life defining moment to cross the finish line of the “world’s toughest foot race,” the Badwater 135!
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