I wrote earlier this about my work colleage Jay who participated in the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon. The great news is that Jay completed the race! You can see the full results here and this spreadsheet is some amazing reading.
Of 84 starters, 67 completed the trek. Jay was 62nd, keeping moving for 56 hours, 52minutes 54 seconds. Put another way, he started running at 8am on Monday and finished at 4:52pm on Wednesday afternoon. Yes, two straight nights on the road. Gutting it out. And finishing, achieving a goal he has had for years.
Jay called me on Thursday morning, after I had seen his finishing time on this website around 5am on Thursday. It was great (and amazing) to hear his voice. He sounded super, very cogent and lucid. I asked how much he had slept and he said “Ah, I’m still kind of jazzed, I only slept 5 hours last night. I’m sure it will catch up with me.” How’s that for an understatement!
Jay said he felt pretty good, except for his feet. “They are kind of a mess,” he understated again. He had already lost one toenail and thought a second one would be gone soon. Some serious blisters and raw spots added to the ambience.
This morning, he sent an email to our local running club:
It was an amazing week.
Monday's temperature reached 129F on the road between Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells. The humidity was recorded at 21%, making for a heat index of about 150F. The surface temperature in the sand next to the road was recorded at 152F. We have photographic proof.
I suffered mild heat exhaustion during this period and had to take 4 hours to recover lost fluid.
I came back from the dead and was able to run-walk to the finish.
I couldn't have done it without the faithful support of my crew: Corey Linkel, Bonnie Busch, Nikki Seger, Brian Kuhn, and Mary Gorski.
Brian is hooked and has vowed to enter next year.
Jay
Awesome. It will be great to see Jay on Monday and hear more.
Persevere. Jay did…and has a most unique accomplishment he can never lose.
2 comments:
that's awesome. it showed him as a dnf last week. congratulations jay!
Hey there,
A little while back I blogged about this post on ThisNext.com (check it out at http://blog.thisnext.com/blog/surviving-badwater.html). ThisNext recently started a month-long private beta and I'd love to invite you to come to the site and make a list of your favorite fitness and health products (and any other products you love).
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Thanks,
Liz
P.S. Don’t hesitate to email me any questions! (lizbarker77@gmail.com)
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