What extra training do you do to get ready for Badwater?
For Badwater I usually try to get in some extra miles in the hottest part
of the day, and ramp up my weekly mileage to around 80-100 miles, if my schedule
allows. Didn’t do that this year, and my finish time suffered greatly. Since I
live in SoCal, the heat here is the same heat as BW’s dry heat just “a degree or
two” lower. Some people will also sit in the sauna for increasing periods of
time. I tried that once while training for my first BW and just got too bored,
so I didn’t do it again. Luckily for me I do okay in heat, so I don’t require
that much extra heat acclimation.
Did you do any practice runs with your crew this year or any year?
No. It would be nice to do that, but they’re already sacrificing the better part of a week, so I don’t want to obligate them to anything extra. Besides, my wife is now an old pro as crew chief so she’s pretty good at getting them up to speed on the fly, during the race. There’s actually not much to it. Get the water bottles prepared with my drink of choice, have a new hat with ice, have the water sprayer ready as I come by, swap the old for the new, see what I want for the next stop, get in the car, drive one mile ahead, repeat. Then do it 134 more times! Rather tedious work for the crew actually.
Do you get cranky during the race and if so do you have any antidote to tell?
Well, you’d have to check with those that have crewed for me over the past three years, but overall I think I’m a pretty easy going runner. I think the only time I get a little impatient is when I ask for something I want at the next stop, and it’s not ready. I don’t want to waste time by waiting, so I’ll tell them to have it ready for certain at the next stop. I’m sure I probably get a little short with them at that point. I think if I started to become a pain in the butt, my wife would tell me. You can’t afford to piss off your crew by being a jerk, because they could just drive away and leave your sorry butt to cook out there.
Are you allowed pacers at any point during the race?
Yes. If you’re over 65, you can opt to have a pacer for all 135 miles, otherwise your pacer can’t join you until the first check-point, which is Furnace Creek, 17 miles into the race. This is for logistical purposes, since everyone is crowded together in each of the three wave starts (about 30-35 runners per wave), and we are running on open state highways. Once we get to the first checkpoint, we’re a few hours into the race and pretty much spread out. And to clarify, the pacers aren’t pacers, in the truest sense of the word, in that they are required to stay behind the runner, not actually “pace” them. Now what a pacer is allowed to do, which is against the rules in most other ultras, is mule for their runner. In-other-words, they can carry their runner’s water, etc.
Are you allowed to run any significant distance with other racers?
Yes, you’re allowed to run the whole race with another runner, but the problem with that is that you’re not allowed to run side-by-side, only single file, so with two runners and their two pacers there would be a congo line of four people, not the most fun way to run with another person. Again, this is strictly for safety reasons on the busy highway. One runner could theoretically set the pace for another runner, but I think that would just be too difficult to monitor, so there’s no rule against that. There is a point were we climb from Stovepipe Wells at mile 42 up to the top of Town’s Pass – 17 miles with 5,100 feet of gain – where there is usually a head wind, sometimes pretty strong, so that would be a good place to draft off of another runner. I’ve never drafted off of someone, or been drafted off of, but I guess it’s legal, and would sure save a lot of energy.
I know when I run marathons it seems that my kidneys shut down and I really don't have to eliminate during the race. It would seem that you must have to drink enough to eliminate some during the race.
Yes, some people have major kidney issues, and have even had kidney failure at BW. I’m lucky in that I’ve never had any kidney problems there, or at any other race. I’m pretty good at taking in the proper amount of fluids, which is a ton, so not a problem for me. I’ll typically go 8 to 12 hours before taking my first pee, but the color is always good – lemonade. Urine the cooler of Kool-aid (urine in the blood) or Coke (really seriously under-hydrated) is really bad and would require some immediate attention. That’s also one of the tasks of the crew, to monitor urine output – volume, color, and flow. Luckily for me I’m always coherent enough to monitor it myself and then report my findings to my crew to document. Some runners can become so disoriented and incoherent that their crew actually have to directly observe their urination output. This is why you should never be on a BW crew. It can be a pretty nasty job.
What do you eat and drink during the race?
It varies from year to year. Drink wise I will take some electrolyte drink like Gatorade, which can get old real quick, so the crew will switch up flavors every couple of hours. Sometimes I only feel like drinking water, especially if I get “gator gut” (fluids aren’t processing through and just sit in the stomach). I also like V-8, Starbucks Frap’s, Muscle Milk or some similar protein drink. Last year I got to a point where the only liquid I could stomach was Sprite, so I did about 40 miles pretty much on Sprite alone. I’m also quite religious about taking S-Caps (electrolytes and essential minerals in pill form). Food wise depends on how I’m feeling. It’s so darn hot for so much of the race that you really don’t have much of an appetite that first day. I might eat fresh juicy fruits like pineapple chunks, oranges, grapes, and watermelon. I also like Pringles chips, sliced pickles, sliced tomatoes with salt, and sliced avocado with salt. For something sweet, I’ll have pudding cups or fruit cups with the sugary syrup, and licorice. I’ve also recently started eating Payday candy bars at my ultras, so I’ll add that to my menu for BW, if I run it again.
Is there any point during the race that you considered stopping and if so how did you overcome that urge?
No, I’m real lucky that not finishing is never an option in my mind, so I’ve never even considered quitting. I suppose if I ran into some real serious issues, I might consider quitting, but that would only be if I, or Martha, felt my health could be seriously compromised if I continued on. Badwater is such a high profile race, and so many people have committed to get their runner to the finish line that the DNF (did not finish) rate at BW is actually quite low. This year I think there were 15 out of 97 that didn’t finish, and that was about double from last year (this year was hotter than normal at 125 degrees). For most 100 mile races, a 30% drop rate is actually pretty good, and 40-70% drop rate is typical on the really hard 100s. It also helps that there is an application process that tries to get 100 of the most qualified ultra runners out of the applicant pool of runners from around the world.
Anything else you would like to share about your experiences doing Badwater?
Out of the 52 100 mile races I’ve done, Badwater is absolutely the most amazing ultra race of them all. I would do it every single year if they let me in (and I could afford it – it’s actually quite costly to put together a BW crew, including the entry fee of $1,000.) In spite of all the scary stories you might hear about BW, it’s actually a blast. And even though it is by far the hottest race I’ve ever ran, I wouldn’t say it’s the most difficult race I’ve ever ran. But then again, my ultra strengths are heat, street, and big miles, so it’s not as hard on my body as it is for some others. The first few times I read about BW, including Dean Karnazes ‘Ultramarathon Man’ I was totally scared off by even the thought of running it, but after talking with a few people that had done it, and getting a good number of 100 mile races under my belt, I slowly came around to where I couldn’t wait to crew, and then to run it myself. If anyone reading this is thinking about doing BW, I would definitely talk to those that have ran it, and then crew for someone. You might find that Badwater will suddenly go from the scariest race you’ve ever heard about, to the top of your bucket list. Maybe someday you’ll be running it with me, or I’ll be crewing for you. Jester on . . .
Thanks,
Russ
Thank you Ed for the interview!
Happy Trails,
Russ
