Badwater Forum

Hello friends!

Mark, the Brit I paced and crewed for at Badwater 2005, has applied for and been accepted back to Badwater. This time though, he’s going to be attempting a double with a summit of Mt. Whitney in between. Something pretty darn special! In other words, after the race (135 miles), he wants to go to the summit of Mt. Whitney (highest peak in lower 48 at 14, 497ft.) Then, run all the way back to the Badwater starting line, for a double Badwater with summit in between. Counting the miles to the summit and back, it’s a total trip of approx. 292 miles. Mark’s definitely capable. He’s done Badwater twice, the Spartathlon twice, the Niger 333 (208 mile desert race), The Marathon De Sables, and the Yukon Arctic Ultra, 300 miles pulling your own sled with gear.

Mark has asked me, and I’ve accepted, to be his lead crew chief and pacer, and to find two other crew members/pacers. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, but also a huge undertaking and a lot of responsibility. I helped in 2005 and believe me, it’s not exactly a picnic, but not that hard either. But a double with a summit attempt in the middle is a different story entirely. This will require a big commitment. Yes, it’s an adventure of a lifetime and will be a lot of fun, but one must always remember that the runner comes first. We’re there for him.

The race starts Monday, July 23. Logistics are still to be worked out, but we would probably all fly into Las Vegas on Friday the 20th or Sat. the 21st. Meet up with Mark who will already be there. Get gear and head to Furnace Creek, Death Valley. Spend Sunday preparing the van and gear, attending race meetings, etc.

Monday start the race. Probably finish the official race on Wed. morning. After race, rest a couple of hours and then begin the summit. Hopefully summit and back to finishline in 12 -1 5 hours. There are a lot of gear considerations to be worked out. Ice axes, crampons, cold weather gear, etc. Don’t let me scare you off. Most days in late July the mountain can be summited without axes or crampons. But it’s a consideration.

So, finish summit Thursday. Sleep a few hours in motel and then start the run back to the starting line at Badwater. Hopefully if all goes well, finish on Saturday or Sunday morning. Drive back to Vegas Monday and fly home.

We realize that this requires a lot of time off from work, etc. It’s possible we’ll consider splitting the crew/pacer duties to the first and second half of the race. In other words, a crew member just be there for the first half and summit, and then the other crew member arrives for the second half and the first crew member goes home. I’ll be there for the duration coordinating things.

Mark is a sponsored runner. So there should be no personal expenses what-so-ever, except for your time of course.

What say you? If you think you might be interested, e-mail me at ldouglass@seton.org as soon as possible.