DEATH VALLEY NATOINAL PARK, California — During a rain shower that partially obscured the light of a nearly full moon, 97 runners took the start abandoned death valley with the launch of an annual 48-hour ultramarathon billed as the world’s toughest running race: the Badwater 135.
Starting late Monday night, the men and women, ages 19 to 69, from 21 countries and 26 U.S. states, will run amid an extreme heat warning. With daytime temperatures up to 120 degrees With temperatures reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.8 degrees Fahrenheit) and a nighttime temperature of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 degrees Celsius), they travel on roads open to traffic and pass through places with names like Furnace Creek, Devil’s Golf Course and Devil’s Cornfield.
“For me it’s all about seeing what I can do, you know, testing my own limits, seeing how well I can do these extreme things,” said 46-year-old runner Jessica Jones of Dauphin Island, Alabama, who was running her second Badwater 135, which starts in the Badwater Basin in the valley.
Luke Thomas, 44, of San Diego, ran his fourth ultramarathon of 135 miles this calendar year.
Thomas didn’t know whether the humidity from the late Monday storm would make the first part of the race harder or easier. During an ultramarathon in Brazil in January, “the humidity almost killed me,” he said.
The race, which began in 1987, always takes place in mid-July, when temperatures in Death Valley National Park peak. The park has seen record temperatures this month, including nine consecutive days of 125 degrees Fahrenheit (51.6 degrees Celsius) or higher.
It is so dangerous that a motorcyclist riding in the park died of heat-related illness on July 6, and several others in his group became ill. A woman with heat illness was rescued in the park Thursday after she and a man became lost while hiking in an area called Badlands Loop when temperatures reached around 110 F (43.3 C) at 9:30 a.m.
No runners died during the race, but a few people ended up in the hospital, said race director Chris Kostman of AdventureCORPS, which organizes the race. The route actually dates back a decade, when it was successfully completed by a solo runner, he said.
Competitors start at the lowest point in North America, 282 feet (86 meters) below sea level. The finish line is at 8,300 feet (2,530 meters) elevation at the Whitney Portal, the starting point for the race to Mount Whitney in California, the highest point in the contiguous United States.
Unlike more traditional marathons where runners race closely together, the Badwater 135 participants are spread out across the course. The race is by invitation only and limited to 100 runners who have run ultramarathons of at least 100 miles (160 kilometers) or longer over the course of three years. Only a third of the runners each year can be repeat participants to give others a chance.
When the runners set out late Monday this year, the temperature was about 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42.2 degrees Celsius), and their northern route was lit by headlamps and the slightly dim moonlight.
Organizers are not providing support along the course, meaning each runner must bring a personal support team, usually three to four people in a minivan. There are no medical stations along the route, but Kostman said there is a small medical team that patrols the road.
The race is held Monday night through Wednesday to avoid weekend visitors to the national park and increased traffic from people driving through the area from Las Vegas. Organizers are working with several federal, state and local government agencies, some of which must issue permits along the entire route.
The current fastest record for the race was set in 2019 by 31-year-old Yoshihiko Ishikawa with 21 hours, 33 minutes and 1 second for the men’s division, and in 2023 by 41-year-old Ashley Paulson with 21 hours, 44 minutes and 35 seconds for the women’s division.
According to Kostman, the runners, support team members and race staff all consider themselves part of a family and often return to the park for family vacations.
“There’s a very collegial feeling around it,” he said. “Everyone wants the other runners to do as well as they can.”
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It has snowed in Phoenix.