HITEC BADWATER 146: 1992 “A FOOT SPANKING 300,000 PACES TO THETOP OF MT. WHITNEY“Last year I hadthe honor of participating in this event and the satisfaction of finishing11th out of 14 starters and finishers; I was 6th of 7 who went to the top ofMt. Whitney. This year I was 7th of 14 starters and 13 finishers and I was4th of 5 who completed the course. The race starts at Badwater, DeathValley, at 282 ft. below sea level and goes on paved roads 135 miles toWhitney Portals. That's about 5 marathons end to end. About 70 of thesemiles are flat, 20 down hill (5,000 ft. of descent) and 45 up hill (13,600ft. of ascent). The hiking portion of the event starts at the Portals (8,300ft.) and climbs to the top at 14,496 ft. in 11 more miles making the totalof 146 miles from the lowest to the highest points in the contiguous UnitedStates. Then, there is the descent of 11 miles back to the Portals. Thetrail portion, therefore, is 22 miles long, which I refer as marathon #6 forthe event, making a total of 157 miles and adding 6,200 ft. of ascent anddescent. It should probably be called the Hi Tec Badwater 135 or 157 insteadof the 146! What goes up must come down!To get into thisrace one has to be invited. I wasn't sure if completing the event one yearqualifies for being invited the next year. I kept training, doing about amarathon a month. I did a few ultras as well as a cross country ski marathonat Mammoth Mountain, California, and the first ever roller blade marathonwhich was held last fall in Orange County, also in California. I did anendurance bike ride from Death Valley to Whitney Portals for the 8th year ina row and the "Death Ride" in Markleeville, Alpine County,California, forthe 4th year in a row. I had received a phone acceptance from Dave Pompel,Race Director, and several months earlier. In the meantime I heard he hadleft Hi Tec and went to Reebok. Chris Stai was now the Race Director, so Isent him a letter to see if I was going to receive an invitation for 1992.In the meantime, my wife, Denise, and I decided to go to Tanzania, in EastAfrica, to train for this race. This is the reverse of what other runnersdo; the East Africans seem to want to come to New Mexico and Colorado toimprove their performances and do altitude training. I wanted to participatein the Inaugural Kilimanjaro Marathon which was scheduled to take place on06 28 92. I went two weeks before that date to climb Kilimanjaro. Thismountain is about 100 miles south of the equator where it is hot all yearround. The climb via the Marangu Route starts at the National ParkHeadquarters at Marangu Gate at 6,000 ft. The first day climbs five miles tothe 9,000 ft. level to Mandara Hut and goes through the rain forest. Thesecond day climbs ten miles to the 12,300 ft. level to Horombo Hut andascends through the heather lands and moor lands. The third day climbsanother ten miles to 15,520 ft. to Kibo Hut coursing the lunar/alpinelandscape. This is where the altitude begins to hit. I live in Lone Pine,California, at 3,700 ft. and two weeks before the trip I went 13 mileswestward to Whitney Portals and slept over night at the 8,000 ft. level. Ithink that this really paid off on Kilimanjaro and later on Mt. Whitney. Idid take Diamox 250 mg. about four times a day while above 12,000 ft. Inever had a headache or nausea during the whole time on Kilimanjaro, as wellas on Mt. Whitney. I did develop a slight cough on the descent, which wentaway after getting below 13,000 ft. The secret on the final ascent was tofollow the guide who does this about every week and go "pole,pole", which,

in Swahili, means "slowly, slowly". Lift one foot up about threeinches andslide it forward about one foot. While doing this, take a breath in throughthe nostrils while taking one step and then exhale through the nostrilswhile taking the next step. Do this continuously ascending 10 ft. per minuteclimbing 600 ft. per hour and finally 3,000 ft. in six hours. This broughtme to the rim of the Crater of Kilimanjaro (Kibo) at Gilman's Point (18,600ft.) by sun up at around 0700 on the fourth day. I used this technique ofcoordinating breathing through the nostrils and taking short steps on the 13miles going up the Portal Road from Lone Pine to Whitney Portals and thenfinally on the 11 mile trail from the Portals to the top of Mt. Whitney. Ionly had three weeks between getting back home to heat train before startingat Badwater. When I got back to the States, my invitation letter was waitingfor me.On 07 04 92 I wentto Badwater with Tom Crawford and Richard Benyo. They had previously donethe "Death Valley 300" which is the out and back from Fire to Iceand backto Fire. That is the Badwater to Whitney and then back to Badwater. They,and Rhonda Provost, of the Northern California Ultrarunners Society, felt itappropriate to make me the Mayor of Badwater. I have lived in Inyo Countyfor the last 29 years and have had a medical practice in Lone Pine and DeathValley during this time. I have covered the course by car many times. I havetaken care of many residents and tourists in the area and have encounteredmost of the problems that can occur. There is heat exhaustion and heatstroke as well as flash floods and sand storms in Death Valley. Sidewinders,coyotes, ravens, scorpions and tarantulas are on a constant search for theunaware. Traffic accidents and break downs are common on the course. Infact, just today I got a call from the Inyo County Coroner's office to do anautopsy on a 72 year old man who died of massive head injuries in a dunebuggy accident on a road 2.7 miles from the race course! At the other endare problems of hypothermia, sudden blizzards, and torrential rains,lightening strikes, rock slides and avalanches. They felt I was the bestqualified for the job. There was no other competition, so it was cinchedfrom the beginning. The National Geographic Explorer film crew met us thereat noon on the 4th of July for a touching ceremony in the 130 degree heatand in a 40 mile per hour south wind. It was too hot for the assassins whowere reported to be arriving. After a five page ceremony performed by Tom,Richard and Rhonda, I read a two page acceptance speech. I promised to giveequal rights to all beings trying to survive in this territory, whether itis man, animal, bird or insect. I was "pro choice" giving equalopportunities to any of these creatures wanting to perform some daring taskin these conditions. After I was installed as the Mayor of Badwater and mywife, Denise, being recognized as the First Lady of Badwater, we went on a10 to 15 mile heat run/slog/walk toward Furnace Creek Ranch.Over the nexttwo and a half weeks I did daily 10 mile track work outs at 15 minutes permile in temperatures of 90 110 degrees. While doing this I tried to take in2 liters of fluid per hour and about 500 600 calories per hour, which justabout makes up for what has been lost as it is being lost. This is importantduring the trek from Badwater. Following body weight and, at times, rectaltemperatures are important, but sometimes a nuisance. The main fluids I usedwere Ultra Fuel, club soda, lemon lime soda, Classic Coke and water on therocks in an insulated Camelback pouch with a tube with a nipple like end; Irefer to it as my pacifier. The main solids were fig newtons, pretzels, gumdrops and at times a turkey and cheese sandwich on dark bread.On 07 19 92, I

went to Stovepipe Wells Village at sea level in Death Valley. This is at the41 mile mark of the course and was where Richard Benyo was getting afarewell party before attempting the "Death Valley 300" which wasto startat Badwater at 0700 on 07 20 92. There was a crew meeting and the strategyof the event was covered in the 120 degree heat of the day. We had a greatpasta feed. The film crew was also present and interviewed Marshall Ulrichand me prior to our event which was to start on 07 22 92 at 1800.In the next twodays I got my gear together. My cobbler, Rod Ayers, rigged me with somecleats to wear on my shoes to insulate my feet from the hot pavement andsand and also to protect my Morton's neuroma. Bev Kritz, of La Florista,supplied some fake palm trees to be part of my traveling oasis. Dwight Vande Walker, my mortician and funeral director, arranged for me to purchase acasket (body removal tank) which I kept 3/4 filled with water for coolingoff during the run. I picked up 20 cases of Crystal Geyser Alpine SpringWater donated by the C.G. Roxanne Bottling Company in Olancha, California,to be distributed to the participants. I also arranged for "SpecialEvent"signs to be stationed on the highway by Caltrans, notifying traffic thatrunners would be on the road. Then I got the U Haul truck from Don's Texaco.This would hold all of my paraphernalia during the next week.On 07 22 92,race day morning, my crew and pacers had assembled. Denise, my wife, ofcourse, was already present. Her daughter, Angie Nealy, and her friend,Bruce Pottenger, arrived from Bishop, California. Race walker, Dave Thorpe,and his friend, Charlie Stalnaker, from Newport Beach, California, drove upin a Mercedes. There was a final inspection of the U Haul truck and we wereoff for Death Valley. On the way we came upon Richard Benyo along Owen'sLake at about the 110 mile mark on his way to Whitney. An inquiry was maderegarding the loss of brain cells and we wished him a successful journey.Others were there to have him autograph his book "Death Valley300". I alsobrought along copies of his book and sold 11 of them on the course. Therewere refreshments served at a meeting place at Furnace Creek Ranch from 1400to 1500. The runners and crews and pacers began to assemble. We got our racepackets with bibs, Hi Tec hat, water bottle and the Hi Tec shirt for 1992.Extras were available and more could be ordered. We will also be able to getHi Tec products at the employee discount! Everyone was introduced. This yearthere were six repeaters from 1991 and three from 1990! In the future, itmay be hard to get into this event since Hi Tec wants to keep the number ofentrants relatively low.Then we drove 17miles south to Badwater. Our group picture was taken. We then toed the line;however, I used the chair reserved for the Mayor. Eventually, I rose fromthe chair, adjusted my safari hat, shook the wrinkles out of my Cool Maxpajamas, and issued "high fives" to the well wishers and thenstrided out atmy 15 minute per mile pace. I literally walked the whole way but did trotonce for a few hundred yards for the Geographic film crew while going downthe west side of Towne's Pass. I also "sprinted" the last fewyards when Iarrived at the Portals. Marshall Ulrich started out doing 8 minute miles andat about 80 miles almost caught the bicyclist from Minnesota who waspedaling the course for the second year in a row. Jack Christian, fromOklahoma, was sick before the start and dropped out after 17 miles; hefinished in '90 and '91. Steve Kerr, from the United Kingdom, became sick at