The G Running Diary

Badwater (aka THE Badwater): 3/10/03

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This race application process is set up to tease you. First you must submit your running resume and extended application online and pay your entry fee. Then you wait to be invited. You first find out if you are invited when you receive a letter in the mail. So, I am in. Don is in too. A lot of people say, "Congratulations!" but most of them are thinking that I am nuts. When I told Bob Metzger I was in, he was quiet for a moment and then said, "I have no comment on that." Although ultrarunning is a sport where the participants are considered somewhat wacko by the general public, Badwater causes even the ultrarunners to think you are wacko. It puts you on the fringe of the fringe. Maybe that is part of the attraction.

A lot of Badwater is the preparation process. How do you get your crew, your supplies, and your training in the most efficient way possible? You must be organized. You must plan way ahead. And you must really want to do it. People who run Badwater live and breathe it for months, maybe even the whole year. It is the goal they think of when they first wake up in the morning and when they go to bed at night. But if you can get all that planning done ahead of time, then by the time you set off to run the race, all that is left is to run it. This is true of other long ultras, but Badwater is a little different since there are no aid stations. To run, for example, Western States, you could just go there and run it with maybe one drop bag containing a flashlight and light jacket for night time. You don't need a crew or pacers, and the aid stations are so well stocked, you don't really need your own supplies unless you are particular about what you eat during a run. Many people use a crew during that race because you can and because it just makes it more fun. When I was running it, knowing that my mom and Paul were going to be at Foresthill (mile 62) to meet me made me look forward to getting there. It is nice to see friendly faces at almost all the aid stations, but it is extra special to see my mom. That's why I'm sitting there smiling so much while John Vonhof and Denise Jones patch up an ugly blister on my foot. I have been telling people that Western States was my perfect race--everything came together on that day. I suppose people would argue that a nasty blister should negate that statement. But that problem just faded so fast. And with the great fixing up that I got, my blister was almost healed by the end of the race.

So, now I am seeking my Badwater crew.