Much to my chagrin, I got hooked on the “Badwater Experience” four years ago when my running friend Nattu asked me to be on his crew. I swore I’d never do this race, but I agreed to help him out because, well, I was curious about this Death Valley run and wanted to see up close what it was all about. But at the time, I said I would never want to do it. After Nattu’s finish, I told him this was something I wanted to do in the near future, and he said he would be there to help as crew/pacer. The following year, I was back out to help Bob Becker, who was on Nattu’s crew the previous year. Two years later I went out to help Paul Grimm. At the pre-race meeting before Paul’s run, Marshall Ulrich asked me point blank “When are you going to run this Dale?” Who can refuse a comment like that? So I decided I was going to do it next year.
When information came out on the 2011 Badwater run, I had second thoughts due to the steep entry fee. The $1000.00 fee really put me off, and frankly, I didn’t want to spend that kind of money for a race. Yes there are benefits in doing the race (camaraderie, medical access on the course, well run event, etc.) but I felt a Grand was too much for me to outlay at this time. Not long after this decision, I saw a posting on the UltraList by Marcia Rasmussen about the “Badwater Solo” soliciting for anyone who might want to do the independent version of Badwater instead of the “Big Race”. I thought “why not?” and so I e-mailed her and got the details. So now my race was back on, just a bit different in format.
I came to find out that there is no “organized” Solo run for Badwater due to Parks Service regulations concerning group size. As an individual with a crew compliment, this however would pose no problem in doing the run as long as the runner/crew don’t make a huge production out of the run or cause safety concerns for the Park Service (e.g. getting in the way of regular tourists, unsafe crewing along the road). Therefore no permit for running the Solo would be required. The Solo tries to follow in the footsteps of the early crossings, starting with Al Arnold’s first successful Death Valley crossing in 1977 (after three attempts), covering the 146 mile traverse from Badwater, the lowest point of the contiguous United States (elev. -282 feet) to the summit of Mt Whitney, the highest point at 14, 505 feet above sea level. The window established for doing the Solo is from July 1 through August 31. No time limit is imposed in completion of the Solo. Like in the Big Race, the runner can “stake out” their position along the course to leave for whatever reason, as long as the runner returns to that spot when the course was left. The clock doesn’t stop for stake outs.
Once I decided that this was what I was going to do, I had several things to consider: whether or not to summit Mt Whitney, size and compliment of crew, date of my run, making reservations for lodging, and training. I decided on having a six-person crew compliment broken up into two shifts of 8-hours in length (which was changed during the run to six hour shifts during the day and 8-hour shifts at night, mutually agreed upon by the crew). I ended up with a fantastic crew with nearly 15 year’s Badwater experience between all (Nattu Natraj, Phil Rosenstein, Paul Grimm, Karen Bonnett, Vince Gerber and Ken Grimm). I had crewed Nattu and Paul at Badwater previously, and Vince and Ken were also on Paul’s crew. Having these friends involved in my Solo made all the difference in my confidence that I could get this done without serious issues. I was in excellent hands. Also, I knew they would all get along with each other, which is vital to any crew makeup at Badwater, particularly in larger crew compliments. Based upon input from my crew, I picked my Solo date of Saturday, 16 July, 2011. This was a strategic decision as three of my crew (Nattu, Karen and Phil) were going to be at the Big Race earlier that week, making it easier for them to help me on my run.
Having a date set, I had to decide on a Mt Whitney summit and when that would be. I planned on a sub-48 hour finish, coupled with some recovery time would set the date for Mt Whitney the following Tuesday. Even if I was slower I could still, in theory, make the summit with some rest time in between. I had to wait until February 1 to submit my request for 7 permits to the Inyo National Forest for the Mt Whitney lottery. I ended up getting the permits for the requested day.
I made lodging reservations for Stovepipe Wells (through the US Park Service) for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I made lodging reservations at the Lone Pine Hostel for the next three nights. I got creative on the number of rooms for Stovepipe since two of my crew wouldn’t be arriving until Friday prior, and during my run we only needed one room versus three (since myself and 3 crew people would not be needing rooms). Since Paul, Vince and I were flying to Vegas, plus Ken driving out (meeting us at the SquawMart in Pahrump), and Phil waiting for us at Stovepipe Wells necessitated making two room reservations for Thursday night. Nattu and Karen would join us on Friday, which added another room. For Saturday, since 4 of us would be out on the course, we only needed one room for Saturday night. This saved me a lot of money (6 room reservations vs. 9 rooms). For the Lone Pine end of the route, I picked the Lone Pine Hostel with the most beds per room for the final 3 nights. Again, this saved me some significant money for one room vs. 3 or 4 at a local hotel.
I decided to only rent a full size cargo van for the crew vehicle instead of an SUV. Having dealt with both types of vehicles in the past, the cargo van is a much better crew vehicle, size wise, than an SUV. Cargo vans afford lots of room to organize coolers, clothes, water, food, etc. in an efficient manner. We had issues on Paul’s run last year with an SUV as things got cluttered, hard to find during the course of the run, due to entropy-like conditions during the course of many hours. Since Nattu and Karen were driving out on Friday, their vehicle would be used as a crew shuttle between shifts.
As time drew closer for my run, Marcia kept in contact with me regarding various issues, most importantly was documentation of my crossing. She was going to need my splits at the Big Race checkpoints (Badwater, Furnace Creek, Stovepipe Wells, Darwin, Lone Pine, and Portal Road) as well as any photographic evidence I was there and doing the crossing. The more, the merrier. This would include any write-ups I or my crew may provide. I would end up e-mailing her my splits and photos. I also sent these along to Ben Jones, as he is the official record keeper for all Death Valley crossings.
For the training aspect of this run, I went back to predominantly roads, asphalt preferable, and some trails. I wanted to get in some hot road miles this year, but our unusually late summer made that difficult to come by on a regular basis. My first hot run (in the upper 80’s) in May really took a toll on me. But later on I was fine with the hot runs, but again, it never got above mid-90 for these. The wonderful thing with this was I never had to go far to get in some road miles. Where I live, there is an excellent route I took in and around Carter Lake and points east with lots of rolling roads and wide open spaces. I also was very close to a monster road climb section, which started down our road and summited 4 miles and 1600 feet of elevation gain. I tried to incorporate this climb either at the start, middle or end of my long runs. One day all I did was hill repeats up and down this section. I knew this would help on the many climbs at Badwater, particularly Townes Pass, Father Crowley’s, and of course the Portal Road up towards Mt Whitney. While this section wasn’t near as long as any of these climbs during the race, it would have to suffice. I also did a few ascents of Mt Evans, a 14’er near Denver which is entirely on road surface. If I was going to be able to climb Whitney, I needed some high-altitude training to get me there. This also afforded me some rather long uphill grinds in the process. I ended up doing an ascent with Vince one weekend, followed up with another the following weekend with Paul and Ken.
For the bulk of my heat training, I had to rely mostly on sauna training, since the local weather wasn’t going to be sufficient for any heat-related runs. I detest running in multilayer clothes for running, and chose to rely on the sauna for the bulk of this part of my training. I spent a total of nearly 3 months of sauna sweating to get ready. I started off easy, about 20 minutes at 160 degrees. With each successive visit, I would increment my time in the sauna by 5 minutes. I eventually worked up to just over 2 hours just a few weeks prior to my run with the temp inside hovering between 140 and 150 degrees. Due to time constraints, I was only able to average three visits/week. My focus on the sauna sessions was getting my body used to the heat, but more importantly, getting it used to processing fluids. Initially I just brought in ice cold water or Gatorade, but as the sessions went longer, I had to bring in more to last the duration. I ended up bringing in one quart bottle of ice water, another of Gatorade, and a frozen quart bottle of water. By the time I got through the first two bottles, the frozen one was thawed out enough for use. I knew this training was being effective when I went out on some “hot” runs and didn’t really feel the heat as some of my other running friends were feeling. I did do a trail 50K in early June, and while it wasn’t super warm, it was sunny and warm and I heard from several runners that it was hot for them. I didn’t really notice it that much.
I did my normal two-week taper, both from running and heat training, to let the body recover and be fully rested for the big day.
Vince and I drove to DIA to catch our Vegas flight early Thursday AM. We met Paul, who was taking an earlier flight, before heading to our gate. We got to Vegas, picked up our bags and eventually found Paul waiting for us. We took a shuttle ride to the car rental agency, who then called out to their fleet services desk for the cargo van. I got a ride over to pick up the van, drove back and picked up Paul and Vince. It was then off to Pahrump, NV for a WalMart run for supplies. I had talked to Ken earlier in the week and asked him if he could meet us at Pahrump, since I was concerned with the California law mandating all passengers in vehicles must have a seat with a seatbelt. Nattu gave me a heads up on this law prior to coming out. As the cargo van only has two seats, I didn’t want to risk a ticket before the race. For crewing this wasn’t going to be a problem either, especially at the start, since I had decided a few months prior that I was going to have pacers from the start, versus during the Big Race pacers only from Furnace Creek, mile 18. Why not?
We all met in Pahrump, and after having a nice lunch we set about getting the stuff we needed for the run. Nattu phoned earlier that he had about 22 gallons of water left over from his crewing gig during the race earlier that week. We decided to get a few gallons just in case though. Since Nattu and Karen were bringing out coolers for my run, I decided we needed some for cold food items that would spoil in the heat getting there and lasting until they got there the next day. We picked up 3 cheapo Styrofoam coolers to handle that task.
After getting everything (food, drinks, ice and other sundries) we loaded up the van and headed to Death Valley. Paul rode with Ken in his BMW Supermobile convertible, complete with ejector seat.
On the way out, we stopped for a group pose in front of the “Entering Death Valley” sign. We took a side trip up to Dante’s View, which overlooks the Badwater Basin area some 5800 feet above the salt flats below. We walked up the nearby trail which afforded better views. These were awesome to say the least. It was stunning to see how expansive the really Basin is. On the way out there we got a call from Ed Green and Alene Nitzky, who was on the return trip for her Badwater Double. As cell coverage was spotty, we were able to determine they were heading towards Keeler from Lone Pine. I asked Alene when she thought she would be done, and she was saying sometime late Saturday afternoon. I told her we would see her out there on my way out towards Stovepipe Wells on her way back to Badwater.
We got to Stovepipe Wells late in the afternoon and met up with Phil, who had been there since late morning lounging by the pool. He had with him yet more leftover food items and such, including 9 gallons of water. I guess we didn’t need to get the water at WalMart after all. We checked into the two rooms for 5 of us (Paul would elect to sleep on his sleeping pad on the floor). We brought in the groceries, relaxed a bit before we all settled over for dinner.
Paul, Phil and Ken decided they wanted to head over to the Sand Dunes before sunrise. Vince and I decided we wanted to sleep in. Vince and I got up and milled around and took a dip in the pool.
Vince also took it upon himself to decorate the crew van with blue painter’s tape. One side said “Dale Perry Sasquatch”. The other side said “Richard Cranium” By the time we got done the rest of the gang were back, so we headed over for breakfast. Vince, Paul and Ken finished decorating the van. Ken put on the finishing touch on the van roof. Sort of a reference to Richard Cranium.
Friday's plan was to relax as much as possible, but I wanted to go out and walk a bit. Vince and I headed out (the other guys were sacked out from their early morning romp in the sand) for what was originally going to be a walk up to Mosaic Canyon, but after seeing all the dust being kicked up by cars on the road leading up there, we decided to just stay on the main highway and walk. I wanted about 45 minutes and that is about what we did. Got back and saw Nattu driving up. Karen had decided she wanted to ride her bike from Lone Pine to Stovepipe Wells. Phil mentioned that he would be interested in going to Panamint Springs for dinner, and we all agreed that was a great idea.
On the way to Panamint, we ran into Alene and Ed, along with the remainder of her crew (Felix Wong and Stephanie Willingham) on her way up towards Townes Pass. She was looking awesome! We had a brief moment of revelry before we parted ways; she on her mission to Badwater, ours on our mission for food. We ended up having a nice dinner and talked a bit about what was to happen over the next few days. I got to ride back to Stovepipe in Ken’s Super Bimmer. What a ride!
When we got back to the rooms, I settled in on the bed and watched TV, drank my ritual pre-run beer, and watched Nattu and Phil orchestrate the organization of the crew van. It was nice not having to worry about this task, and everyone pitched in and had the van all set up and organized in around an hour. Since I was not going to be crewing this one, I figured they needed to set it up. As the one guy in the Brooks running ad says when his colleague asks how he’s doing (click on embedded video link), “I don’t go messing around in your garbage!” Exactly. What he said.
Around 4:30 AM I got up and got ready for my run. While I was eating, drinking, dressing, and doing some last minute stuff, the crew loaded up the coolers into the van. I packed up the remaining stuff I had (non-running related) so the crew can transport it to the end. I was wanting to get on the road to Badwater around 5:15 AM, but we didn’t get going until after 5:30 AM. Vince and I headed to the start in the crew van, while everyone else headed to the start in Nattu’s vehicle. My plan was to have everyone at the start, even though only 3 of them would be crewing me. If this was the Big Race, I wouldn’t have been able to have all my crew there to see me off. We finally got to Badwater around 6:15. So much for the 6:00 AM start. Oh well, it’s my run, who cares?
Before it was time to go, we all milled around, taking last minute potty breaks. I got weighed by my crew (weighed in at 213 lbs.). After a bit of talking and joking around, it was time for me to be on my way. So I was off at 6:47 AM, Saturday, July 16, 2011. The start of what was to become one of my most memorable and ultimately enjoyable runs; the culmination of 3 years of crewing at Badwater. I had a pretty good idea as to what to expect, but I did get some practical learning out there as well.
Basically my run plan was pretty simple: go out easy (walk the hills, run the flats and downs) until it gets hot, and go easier. My first goal was to get to Stovepipe Wells, mile 42, feeling good and not trashed. My reward to myself for following this rule was a dip in the pool at Stovepipe. As I had pacers from the start, they would keep me honest within my goals. I started off with Paul, who would keep me moving well. He and Vince would trade off every 4 miles or so. The beginning miles are fairly nice as the shadow of the adjacent mountains provided a nice shady avenue to run in. It also wasn’t as hot (mid-80’s) as it can be along here. The full moon was still above the mountains and provided a nice backdrop. Unfortunately, it was a bit hazy due to the relatively higher humidity (I guess around 20% or so) so the mountains further out were somewhat obscured.
Once I got out of the shadows and into the sun, it started warming up dramatically. I decided to change into a sleeveless shirt at this point. At one point along the route, Vince and I spotted Ken on the side of the road taking one of his many pictures of my journey. I told Vince we needed to give Ken a special greeting. As we got closer I yelled out “Hey Ken! Just look at that double full moon over Badwater!” as Vince and I turned around and dropped our shorts for a double moon. You gotta have fun out there. Later on I probably won’t be as prone to humor.
Vince and Paul did a great job pacing me, keeping me moving. Also getting crewed every mile helped too. I was doing pretty good on fluids and eating. I did stop to pee a number of times the first few miles, but now I seemed to be pretty regular at around once an hour. Vince and Paul were also good at monitoring my salt intake, and per my instructions, reminded me to take a salt tab at 45 minute intervals. Before I knew it, I was approaching the Badwater/Furnace Creek road junction. After pausing a few seconds to take a picture of me alongside the “Elevation Sea Level” sign, I jogged it in towards Furnace Creek just a mile distant.
My crew was waiting for me there and had a chair set up in the shade. I got there in 4:06. I was planning on a 3:45 to 4:00 hour arrival, so I felt pretty good about my progress so far, some 17+ miles in. I sat down and took care of several things. It was time to change my socks and re-goop my feet. Ken brought me out a great ice cream sandwich. Between that, a PB&J sandwich, a can of Mango juice, and an Ensure, I felt pretty full when I did leave. For the moment, it was nice to take a short break (about 15 minutes) and refuel and hydrate before heading out for the next hurdle: the 24 mile segment to Stovepipe Wells and into the heart of Death Valley.
To be honest, I was more worried about this next section than any other: it’s hot, it’s fairly flat, and it is seemingly long. I kept telling myself, “Just stick to your plan and it will be okay.” A few miles out of Furnace Creek I remembered I was supposed to call my wife Lorraine and give her an update. Since cell service is virtually non-existent, except around Furnace Creek, I needed to take a short break and give her a call. When I got to the crew van, I still had cell reception and made the call. Unfortunately, she was out (buying a new horse) and I left her a message.
I was amazed that this section went well, and seemed to flash by rather quickly. I was still jogging, but only the downhills. Not long after my phone call, it was time for a crew shift change. Nattu, Phil and Karen would take over crewing responsibilities from Vince, Paul and Ken.
After a weight check (up 7 pounds) Karen started off with me, and I kept the plan going, walking the inclines and running the downs. Not long after, we ran into Alene and her crew. After a bit of hugging and talking, we wished each other a good journey and went our separate ways. Then it was Phil’s turn to pace. Running with Phil is always a treat, as he always has endless stories to tell, which makes for interesting conversation and takes the mind off the long straight road ahead. He did mention one story that was most amusing: he talked about his pacing from earlier in the week. As he and his runner were approaching Lone Pine the runner was needing to relieve himself. Phil mentioned that the gas station at the edge of town had a place to go and so he went for it. Apparently as he was unloading he let out a loud scream. The people outside were concerned and not long after the runner emerged with a big smile and they continued on. We both laughed at that and I told Phil when we get into Lone Pine he can take me to the same place and I’ll scream too. He said they will probably want to put a wanted poster with Phil’s face on it as a warning. For the time being, Nattu was sitting out the pacing for now, leaving most of it to Karen and Phil.
Before I knew it, we had made the sharp turn to the left and Stovepipe Wells in the far distance could be seen. I commented to Phil at the time that I was happy with my progress so far, and not feeling trashed. I told him the pool at Stovepipe is my carrot on the stick to get me there in reasonably good condition. As a reward for sticking to my plan, the pool was calling. He said he would like to join me in that dip as well. Karen took over and we had a long, nice descent as we approached the Sand Dunes. It was reassuring to see the reflective rooftops of Stovepipe Wells in the distance getting closer and closer as we made our way along highway 190. We saw Ken’s BMW in the distance, so he must have been bored and decided to take some photos along this stretch of road. He would try to hide among the shrubs in the desert and take some candid shots. One thing I was amazed at was that it didn’t seem all that hot, even though it was around 110 degrees. Granted I had a hat full of ice and ice in my water bottle, but still it didn’t seem all that unbearable to me. Phil picked me up again a few miles from Stovepipe Wells and we ambled our way towards that pool. On the outskirts of the resort, he ran ahead to meet the van (getting refueled at the gas station across the street from the resort) to let them know our plans. We did have a rather brisk wind at our backs which made it easier for me to get through this section. I got to the pool, took off my shirt, shoes and socks and jumped in. Phil went to the shower house and then joined me. I told him I didn’t bother with a shower. He said, “Don’t worry. None of the other runners do either. They jump in with urine-soaked shorts, barf stained shirts, etc.” After floating around for about 5 minutes, I got out, put on my shoes and walked to the room with Phil. Man, that felt great! I got to Stovepipe Wells, mile 42 in 10 hours, 54 minutes, about 50 minutes later than my best time scenario, but well under my 13 hour worse case time.
I spent about an hour in the room (which was the time allotted in my plan) taking care of re-gooping the feet, changing socks and running clothes. No blisters! I just sat on the bed, eating a great bowl of mashed potatoes prepared by Karen, drinking juice, Gatorade, water, etc. and just chilling out. But eventually, all good things must come to an end and it was time to get back out there and tackle the next hurdle: the long 18 mile climb up to Townes Pass, elevation 4956 ft. By this time, the crew had cleaned out the crew van, restocked it with food and ice, and were ready to go. Phil mentioned that they were going to send out e-mails to friends on my progress. I forgot to have Phil e-mail Lorraine, and mentioned this to Vince on the way out, so he drove back to Stovepipe to relay my request to Phil.
The crew decided to take this time and location the crew change point (after spending an hour here) so it was now Vince, Paul and Ken in charge of my wellbeing. Paul started off with me as we made our way up the long climb ahead of us. A few miles out we were met by one of Danny Westergaard’s crewperson, Jennifer, who was finding out for Danny who was running the solo. Danny was coming back on his Badwater Double through Stovepipe and saw our van and wanted to know who “Richard Cranium” was. Jennifer saw Ken’s artwork on the roof of the van as well, and wished us well.
As usual, it was windy going up to the Pass. At times, I had to stop and sit on the back of the van’s cargo area to just a break from the headwind. The only way I knew I was making headway was when I would see the elevation signs along the road: 1000 ft., 2000 ft., etc. Soon the sun set and there was a brief time of total darkness before the moon rise. I decided I wasn’t going to use a flashlight and just rely on my pacer’s headlight to guide the way. When the moon did finally rise, there was no need for lights at all. It was so bright I could see every feature on the road and the landscape on both sides of us. Only when we spotted a vehicle’s lights ahead did we turn on the head light. We were wearing reflective vests with the fore and aft red blinking lights for safety reasons, but the headlight gave the motorists enough warning that we were out there.
We got to the big parking area that denotes the top of Townes Pass a little after midnight (under 18 hours, still within my plan schedule). I was here for about 30 minutes. I sat down, re-gooped the feet and changed socks, and changed into a long-sleeve shirt as it was cooler and I was getting a bit chilled. I was handed some mashed potatoes but they tasted like shit. No flavor at all. I asked them why it was so bland, and it was the box of instant taters we got at WalMart, and the stuff I got at Stovepipe was some leftover from Phil’s crew. I told them to throw the rest of it away. I ate and drank, and decided it was time to move on down the hill towards Panamint Sprints, some 11 miles distant. I weighed in again and no change from the last weigh in. Just prior to Townes, I was fretting about not having peed since Stovepipe, about 6 hours prior. I finally let loose a huge stream which indicated I was okay.
Paul picked me up here and as it was a nice downhill, I told Paul that for now let’s try doing two-mile interval crewing as I was not needing any crewing the first mile after Towne’s. I was moving well, not incredibly fast, but it was faster than a walk. The moonlight lit up the way very nice as we made our way down. At some point, I was getting hot (lower elevation) and switched into a short sleeved shirt again. I had some great conversations with both Vince and Paul as we made our way down into the Panamint Valley. Early on we could see the lights of Panamint from above, but we were still 8 miles away. Once we hit the valley floor, the lights made it seem like it was uphill to Panamint. It wasn’t but it was an illusion and I already knew of this before I got there so it wasn’t disconcerting to me at all. About a few miles from Panamint Nattu, Karen and Phil caught up with us and it was time to change crews.
Karen took the reins and brought me into Panamint, mile 72.3. I got here in 22 hours and 12 minutes, still well within my plan. I wanted to take a short break and deal with my feet again, take a short nap and to change into some larger shoes as I wanted a break for my feet. They had been in the first pair from the start, some 72 miles ago. It was here when I decided I need to take dump, my first since I started the run. I used one of the Whitney waste bags (from prior visits here) to crap in and it worked great. For Phil’s benefit, I screamed out loud when I took my dump. As there was nobody around except us, it was a bit of fun. All started laughing
Nattu left with me as we left Panamint for the next hurdle: climbing to Father Crowley’s Point some 8 miles distant, and an elevation of 4000 ft. The climb up was tough as the road winded its way up. I kept thinking of all those hill repeats I did during training as well as the climbs up to Mt. Evans to keep me going. Phil, Nattu and Karen all took turns as we made our way to the parking lot at Father Crowley’s. I wasn’t sure if it was before or after here that Phil found a toy person along the side of the road. This became the crew mascot as it was taped to the front of the crew van, seemingly guiding us all along the way. I took a short break here. Phil was talking to the Ranger and other visitors who were asking who I was and what was going on. Phil later told me they were in awe of what I was doing. This was a constant theme whenever we met anyone along the way. It made me feel proud of what I was doing and gave me motivation to keep it moving.
Even though Father Crowley’s is a major landmark, the road still climbs another 1000 feet to Darwin 10 miles up the road. By now it was starting to get hot (it was after 8:00 AM by now) and I was needing my ice hat again. We finally got to the Death Valley park boundary and I told my pacer I wanted to take a group photo here. There was a European family there as well and they took a shot of us. I also wanted to change into another pair of shoes, the ones that Ken had removed the toe box from. The family was amazed at this and took a photo of my feet sticking out of the front of the shoes. Having not run in these before I was a bit leery of them but I needed something as the earlier shoes were getting tight. I ended up wearing them for the remainder of my run, some 45 miles. Obviously it wasn’t an issue.
Before I knew it, it was 11:20 AM and time for a shift change. Vince, Paul and Ken met us just short of Darwin, mile 89. Paul picked me up and we made our way to Darwin. It was there I wanted to take a short break and weigh in, change socks and eat. As I was taking off my socks, Ken noticed I had a blister on the bottom of my right big toe. I asked him if he would be able to lance it in such a way that it wouldn’t reseal and blister again. He did a great job at it. After that, I re-gooped the feet (the nice thing about this stuff is that it has healing properties in it so I don’t need to tape up the blister just apply the goop and that’s it). At this point Danny Westergaard and his crew pulled up and talked with us a bit. Danny finished his Double and was heading back home when he saw us pulled off the road. Ken offered me an ice cream they had gotten back in Stovepipe before heading out here. It was soft but still incredibly cold and yummy. Thanks Ken!
Vince took over pacing and we got to the actual Darwin turnoff point in 30 hours and 40 minutes, mile 90. Still well within my plan schedule, although a bit slower. The next hurdle is the ungodly segment from Darwin to Lone Pine: 30 miles of long asphalt descent past Keeler to the Junction that marks a right turn into Lone Pine. I’ve heard from all my runners I’ve crewed that this is a horrible stretch. They were right. Even though the temperatures are cooler here (about 20 degrees) and it is a descent (albeit gradual) it is still hell. Having crewed here before it didn’t seem all that bad, but I got a far different perspective on this as the runner.
On the descent from Darwin, I did manage to jog the downhill bits. But I was noticing something else: the back of my calves were burning hot looking beet red. Vince was concerned that I was getting a sunburn there, but I had already applied sunscreen only a few hours earlier. I surmised it was heat radiating off the asphalt, coupled with the hot tailwind contributing to this. I recommended cooling down the calves to offset this discomfort. Paul and Ken ended up putting ice in zip lock baggies and icing them down. We decided that we needed to crew every ½ mile at this point.
This did help, but Vince, Paul and Ken were concerned about me overheating, much like Paul did last year on his run in this very same section. I ended up getting crewed every ¼ mile, and had a new ice hat, bandana, as well as an ice water-soaked shirt exchanged at each crew point. They later mentioned that they noticed that the calves didn’t seem as red looking or as hot to the touch as they were earlier.
So as we made our way slowly towards Keeler (mile 107), I dealt with the heat as best as I could. It was a walk to be sure. This was not what I was hoping for here but you deal with the cards you’re dealt with. To take my attention away from my current misery, Vince and I noticed the steady stream of dust devils that were making their way across the valley and crossing the road ahead of us. I told Vince this must be the Superhighway of Dust Devils. One particularly large one was growing and moving to what looked just ahead of the crew van. These were pretty impressive to watch, and I definitely didn’t want to get caught in one as it crossed the highway.
When I approached the 100 mile mark, I wanted a photo taken of me at the INYO 27.5 mile mark post on the side of the road. Not long after, the other crew met us for a crew change. I was a bit dismayed at this point because I wanted to be further along (at least to Keeler) before the shift change. Nattu, Phil and Karen were supportive and continued on the crewing every ¼ mile as before. Karen was asking me how I was doing, what was going on, etc. Vince and Paul made a surprise crew visit and brought out some food items I may need: mashed potatoes, chocolate pudding and other stuff. By the time the sun set, it was much cooler and we went back to ½ mile crewing. But now I was facing another hurdle: lack of sleep. Yes, I was going on a second night of running, but I think the bulk of this was related to my body reacting to being nearly overheated. Once the sun started setting, I also started to pee more frequently (about once every 15 minutes) and in gushers. There were lots going on with my body system. I ended up taking a 20 minute nap, and then another near Keeler. Before all this was going on, I mentioned to Nattu that I was feeling weird, like my head was going to explode and I was fuzzy in my thinking. I think this was the onset of my sleep deprivation, but I was too goofy to realize what it really was. I tried drinking more Mtn Dew, more food, etc. to stave off the sleepiness. Marcia and John Rasmussen caught up with us at this point. However it was very difficult for me to focus, and the moonlight was casting weird shadows among the roadside shrubs and such forcing to comment to Phil at one point what all the roadside machinery was all about. He said there were none only bushes. I finally ended up telling Nattu I really needed another nap. This was around after midnight. He said what I really need is at least 3 hours of sleep at the hostel ahead in Lone Pine. My pace was pretty slow at this point (>30 minute miles) and I was a bit staggery in my walk. Despite the earlier naps and pushing of food and sugar, I just couldn’t keep my focus going. It was decided then that I would stack out my spot along the road and head up to town for some sleep.
I fell asleep in the van immediately, and once I got to my bed I was out. I woke up 4.5 hours later in a panic. Where was I? Oh, yeah I’m still trying to finish this thing. I got up, went to the bathroom, and cleaned up a bit. By this time everyone else was getting up. After a few minutes of eating and getting a new set of running clothes on, Vince, Paul and Ken took over crewing as we headed back out to the stake out point where I bailed hours earlier. We were told it was 7 miles out from the Lone Pine turnoff. It was getting near dawn, and we saw the stake tied to a mileage marker.
Since I was now cooled off and rested, we resumed the 1 mile interval crewing. I didn’t run much but the walking was brisk, at least for me. It was probably slow for Vince and Paul though. It was now 6:30 AM. At 8:05 AM we made it to the road intersection of Highways 136 and 395, marking the turn and the 2 mile stretch into Lone Pine. I asked Ken if he would like to walk into town with me. We were joined by Karen, and Nattu followed in his vehicle. Unfortunately, in my slow state of progress, Karen and Nattu would have to leave us once we got to the hostel, due to prior engagements they had made.
We got back to the hostel in 30 minutes and I took some time to eat more and drink. Phil was there to join us after catching up on some much needed sleep. I gave Karen and Nattu a hug and said goodbye and many thanks for being out there with me. After taking another bathroom break and some more food to consume, we were off for the final 13.5 miles up the Portal Road to the finish line and the trailhead to Mt Whitney. It was now 9:08 AM.
Phil had told me earlier in the run that the final miles up the Portal Road are the victory lap miles. I must totally agree with that assessment. While it is an unrelenting upward grind, from an elevation of 3610 feet in Lone Pine to nearly 8360 feet at the trailhead, it felt very satisfying to get to this point and all I had to do now is keep putting one foot in front of the other and it will be done. At this point, I really didn’t care what the pace was, and was totally relaxed in the climb.
There were some humorous moments thrown in as well. One was when Vince and I spotted a wooden sign on the side of the road which read “3.2 miles to Whitney Portal”. This was in reference to last year’s run with Paul, when he kept asking us how far it is to the finish. Not really knowing the exact distance, I told him “3.2 miles”. A little later, he asked the same thing, and we gave him the standard answer “3.2 miles” until he got to the end. As we walked by the sign Vince turned around and started yelling. On the other side of the sign it read “Vince Gerber Sucks Old Man Balls”.
Not long after this, as Phil was parking the crew van for a crew stop, he got the left rear tire stuck in the loose dirt. Ken got out the jack and was attempting to raise the van so they could put rocks in the bottom of the hole to get out. Soon, a man driving a Jeep stopped and offered to pull the van out. In the meantime, Vince grabbed extra bottles and food for me to use in case they were late in getting out. Turns out the Jeep did a great job and we were back on schedule. The bad thing was Ken never got a picture of the buried wheel in the dirt. It was rather impressive.
Vince and Paul and/or Phil were walking the road with me as I continued to ascend. I made a comment I wanted to get to the start of the switchbacks ahead, marking the final few miles to the end. Before long, we were there and the start of the steeper climb to the end. Ken would pull the van whenever he found a spot. This varied from a ¼ mile to ½ mile at any given time. If this was during the Big Race, it would have been nearly impossible to pull off like he did, what with all the crew vehicles making the ascent with their runners. Another plus of doing the Solo. Once we got up into the forest did I really feel great and feeling good that this was about over. We got to the family campsites sign which meant only 1 mile to go. I looked around and took in the scenery here. What a contrast: from the flat salt plains of Badwater, the mind-numbingly boring stretch from Darwin to Keeler, to the high alpine forest approaching 8300 feet in elevation. It was cooler once we got more and more into the forest.
I then spotted a makeshift finish line: toilet paper stretched out across the road. I then mustered up the energy to run (actually more of a jog) with all my remaining crew people to run it in with me: Paul, Ken, Vince and Phil. Marcia and John were there waiting and cheering. After giving everyone a finish hug, Marcia handed me the best looking piece of race hardware I’ve ever seen: a belt buckle with “Badwater Solo” engraved on it.
I sat down and proceeded to take off my shoes and socks. I was surprised to find that the one blister Ken had lanced way back at Darwin never reformed. On the other foot, everyone was talking about the other blister (which I didn’t know I even had, except it felt like a hot spot) that had popped earlier and was noticeably bigger. I asked for my post-race beer and enjoyed the moment. I was finally done. Paul told me the finish time was 56 hours and 12 minutes, about 30 minutes later than Paul’s time of last year. Who cares? I survived, I was talking, smiling and drinking a damn cold beer and feeling great.
After sitting there for about 30 minutes it was time to head down and clean up. We ate burgers at the Mt Whitney Inn across the street. Once back, everyone was talking about the early morning get up and go for the Whitney climb. I was undecided on whether I was going to go or not. My feet were pretty achy and I hadn’t gotten much sleep. Marcia dropped by and asked if she could tag along.
Alarms went off the next morning and I decided I was going to give it a try after all. I pulled out my Whitney gear (Camelback, warm clothes, gloves, hat, and trekking poles). We got a fairly late start, and arrived at the trailhead around 4:30 AM. Phil decided he wanted to catch up on sleep so he stayed behind. We made our way up the trail (slowly) and encountered many stream crossings.
About several miles in we saw the sunrise. Right after the Mt Whitney permit area sign, we put on warmer clothing as the wind was pretty stiff and it was rather cold. I felt like a slug going up the trail. That and achy feet. Remarkably my legs felt great, I was just tired and slow. I had forgotten how rocky it was going up, and was getting rather annoyed at them. We did encounter a few snow fields to traverse.
By the time we got to Trail Camp, elevation 12,000 feet, it was already 10:30 AM! Six hours! Fuck! At this rate, it would be another 5 at least to get to the top. That makes it 11 hours. Then at least an 8 hour descent makes for nearly 20 hours on the mountain. I decided then and there that this was as far as I wanted to go, time-wise. I could have made it up to the summit, but I was just too slow. Vince and I were also concerned about the trail leading up to Ridge Crest, 13,600 feet. It looked like there was a snow trail, fairly steep, leading up to the notch. I wasn’t interested in doing any of that. Vince wasn’t either, so Vince and I decided to head back. Paul and Marcia wanted to summit, so we said goodbye and we would meet them back below. Turns out that the snow field Vince and I saw was the earlier route climbers were using when the switchbacks were covered in snow. Paul said that the switchbacks were clear of snow.
It was slow going on the way down. Towards the end, I fell on my ass in the last creek crossing. Vince failed to get a shot of that, me up to my elbows in cold water. We got down to the parking lot and met up with John. He got a phone call from Marcia saying they summited around 1:30 or so. Marcia was also tending to a young man who had some edema issues and getting him down to lower altitude. It was around 4:00 PM, and I told Vince they probably won’t be back until 6 or so, and I wanted to go down to the room, shower up and get all my stuff organized and packed for the next day. I got to the room and Phil was there, and as Vince was going back up to get Paul, Phil went along. It took me about an hour to get all my stuff organized and packed. Vince, Paul and Phil got back around 7:00 PM. We all went across the street to the Pizza Factory and sat outside and ate two pizzas. This was probably the most relaxing moment of the whole week: eating pizza and talking about the previous days’ activities.
Went back to the room and fell asleep. Woke up the next morning, Ken was getting his car loaded for the road trip back. I thanked Ken for being out there and helping me get to the finish line. He was a big part of it all, and a great asset to have out there. We went back to the room and finished packing before heading across the street for breakfast. As we were waiting for our breakfast, we saw Ben Jones walk by and stopped in to say hello and asked me how things were. I told him about the journey, he told us some of the history of the Death Valley crossings. When we were done eating, we got some photo ops with him and us in front of The Duke (John Wayne cutout).
Checked out, and headed off to Vegas. Dropped Paul and Phil off at Paul’s rental car (as he was heading back to L.A. for Angeles Crest 100 in a few days). Vince and I dropped off the cargo van and got a shuttle ride to the airport.
Any lessons learned from all this? Well, here are 10 items I can take away from all this:
1. 1. I probably could have done with more long run training. The longest training run I did was a 50K in early June. I did do several back-to-back long runs, but my longest training run averaged around 23 miles. I should have done some that were longer, on roads. The weather and my schedule just didn’t allow it this year.
2. 2. Wear sun protection on the lower legs. I did try to find some SPF long pants, but that was several weeks before I was heading out to DV. The longest pants I found in local stores and on the internet was a 34” inseam. I need a 36” inseam minimum. Next time, I’ll get the longest pant I can buy and sew on a few inches of material on the cuffs to cover my ankles. Either that or wear compression socks. I just need something to protect the lower legs, which really caused issues on the second day. I’ll try not to do it at the last minute.
3. 3. I could have done with longer hill climbs with more frequency. While my local hill had a good amount of climb, it wasn’t enough by itself to mimic what I would face on the course. Perhaps more Mt Evans road ascents, starting from the very bottom to the top? I really didn’t have any problems with this per se, but I could have benefitted with longer sessions and therefore I might have been a bit quicker on the ups, particularly Townes and the Portal Road.
4. 4. The sauna sessions were a hit, at least in dealing with the heat. It didn’t take long for me to feel the effects of these sessions during many of my lunch time runs when temps were in the upper-80’s to lower-90’s just before the run. I felt that my fluid intake during the run was pretty good, and the sauna sessions helped me get ready for this in DV. This was a very effective method in getting ready for DV heat.
wi5. The wider shoes at the start were a big hit, and the cut out toe boxes went better in the latter part of race than I thought. I would not hesitate to do this again.
6. 6. A six person crew complement worked great. The key factor in this number of crew is picking the right people who get along with each other. I’ve heard numerous stories of crews that were disasters due to clashing personalities and goals.
7. 7. Cargo van, cargo van, cargo van. Enough said on this one.
8. 8. Listen to your crew. I wasn’t happy on Day Two with the increased crewing and subsequent slowing of my pace. However, it was the right thing to do to prevent over heating issues later on. I put my run in their hands and they got me through it. That’s why picking the right people for the crew is so critical. And more importantly, everyone had a blast, even me.
9. 9. Employing the road/crew safety rules was very important. There was a lot of traffic on the road screaming by at 60 mph. There were no near misses, but adhering to basic common sense safety while crewing was paramount to all concerned.
10. 10. The Badwater Solo is the way to go, in my opinion. Many added benefits over the Big Race itself. Not that the Big Race is a bad scene, it just isn’t my cup of tea. Which leads me to……
Several people have asked me what the pros and cons of doing the Solo over the Big Race. Here’s my take on that question:
Pros: no entry fee; not a lot of other crew vehicles on the road, making crew pull off spots to crew much easier (especially going up Townes Pass, Father Crowley’s, and the portal road); less stress worrying about making cutoffs; not having to worry about a lot of asinine rules (unrelated to safety issues); having pacers from the start.
Cons: no access to race medical personnel (in my case not an issue but is something to think about if this is); garnering energy from other runners and crews on the course (nothing like having other crew members cheering you on for motivation); more attention to details concerning documentation, etc.
All in all, I tried my best to stay within the spirit of the Big Race but took advantage of being on my own. We observed all the safety rules that have been established for the Big Race for my Solo run. It was nice not having the crew to worry about the race marshals out there gigging all the runners for minor infractions. This certainly added to the low-stress level of the run and allowed everyone to concentrate on the task at hand, namely getting me to the end in one piece.
This Solo run was undoubtedly one the most fulfilling endeavors I have done as an ultrarunner, and I would not hesitate to do it again. My crew was paramount in my finish, and we all had a great time through the process of going from Badwater to halfway up Mt Whitney. I was sorry Nattu and Karen weren’t there for the finish, but their spirit was there with us as we made our way up to the Portals of Mt Whitney.
I owe my race to my crew. Every one of them stepped up to the plate and did what was needed to help me along the way, keeping me fueled, hydrated, motivated, whatever all the way to finish line. Several of them told me I was easy to crew: I never gave them a hard time when told to eat, drink or take salt. I think the second day was the toughest on them, and they certainly got me through a wickedly tough patch. They made me feel like a rock star, but in the end, they were the rock stars.
Like I said, I will be back, if only to get my time under 48 hours which was my original goal. It’ll be a few years, but I will be back. What a ride!
