HI TEC BADWATER 146 1993 "THEAISLE WAS 146 MILES LONG"      This year's racewas the same format as the last five. We assembled at Tino's Restaurant atthe Furnace Creek Ranch about four hours before the start of the race. Wehad refreshments and began renewing acquaintances as six of the twelveregistered runners were returnees. Marshall Ulrich was here for the fourthtime. Jack Denness and I were here for the third time. Joe Franiak, BobGivens, Keith Pippin and John Shehadey were here for the second time. Youwould think that we should know better! We figured out who the others wereby asking. It is hard to determine who the runners are from the crew membersand pacers. Chris Stai, Race Director from Hi Tec, introduced himself andhis crew of Karen Raby, Erin Dahlquist and Pam Riggs. He announced thatthere would be no vehicle support side by side with the runners and that thevehicles should leap frog ahead the next mile or so to meet the runner. Thisis for safety as per the California Highway Patrol, the United States ParkService, Caltrans and the County of Inyo Road Department. All of theseagencies are involved with the race. The United States Forest Service isalso involved the last five miles to the Portals as well as on the trail tothe top. In addition, the runners must follow the highway to the Portals andnot use the previously accepted trail short cuts in order for the supportpeople to keep track of the runners. The goodie bags were handed out whichcontained the race shirts, bib numbers, water bottles and hats as well as arace book with instructions and a log to keep en route. Marshall Ulrich gavea few pointers on how to tackle the course and avoid injury. He then invitedeveryone to his wedding which was to take place on the top of Mt. Whitney 42hours after the start of the race. As it turned out the only other runnerwho would have been able to attend was Joe Franiak (details later). I wasgiven a chance to speak. The group was informed that I, as "Mayor"ofBadwater, had had a meeting on 07 04 93 at Stovepipe Wells Village with theTown Council, namely, Tom Crawford, Richard Benyo and Rhonda Provost. Wewere happy to note that there had been no acts of terrorism since thealleged assassination attempt when I was to be inducted as "Mayor"on07 04 92 at Badwater. All of the health care, environmental, gay andabortion rights issues had been resolved. The only outstanding issue wasthat of the endangered species. It had been moved and seconded and approvedthat the only endangered species was the ultrarunner. In regard to extrasupport, Southern Inyo Hospital provided the 5% Dextrose in Normal Salinewhich I had in the U Haul right near the casket. I couldn't do this event ifit weren't for my mortician and trainer, Dwight Van deWalker. Fluids and/orthe casket would be available upon request. For shade, are potted palm treeswere donated by La Florista of Lone Pine. A presentation was made of adrawing of this year's belt buckle designed by a local artist, Kerry Powell.Crystal Geyser wanted to be recognized for contributing Alpine Spring Waterfor the event. Forty cases were distributed to the runners and crews. Wethen disassembled and headed 17 miles south to Badwater for final interviewswith the media and for picture taking. At 282 feet below sea level thetemperature was 120 degrees and the south wind was blowing at about 25 mph.Ahead of us were 146 miles of which 70 are level, 20 downhill descending5,000 ft. and about 60 uphill ascending 20,000 ft. That's an average of 333ft/mile while climbing.     I was reaching formy arm chair when, all of a sudden, I noticed the other eleven runners

bolting northward toward Furnace Creek. This gave me a chance to practice my"start slowly and taper off" (as per Joe Oakes) technique. Istrolled out onmy planned 15 minute per mile pace and watched the others streaking out inthe distance. Full coverage whites (Frog Gear) and a Sequel cap with a visorand shroud for face and neck protection were worn. We had about 1 hour and40 minutes of direct sunlight before the sun dropped below the PanamintRange. There was no moon, so after about 2130 it was pitch black and easy toget disoriented in the darkness unless I went by "celestial"navigation. TheBig Dipper was right in front. Reflective gear was in order along with myvisor so I could dip my head downwards when an on coming vehicle would come.I also side stepped off the highway when I would see a vehicle come from thefront or hear one come from the rear. The tourists don't hesitate to passeach other even if it is right where a runner happens to be. Finally Iresorted to using a small flashlight. We all tended to travel forward in theon coming traffic lane. This got tiresome mile after mile on the surfacecanted to the left. Also, the asphalt was hotter than the dirt surface alongthe side of the road. I switched back and forth and, at times, traveled inthe right hand lane if there was no traffic. As the night wore on, theflashing tail lights from the crews ahead got further away. I have gottenused to this phenomenon and was content with it for the first twelve hours.My motto is "Get out of the Valley" and "Don't sleep when thesun is down".     My wife, Denise,who is also the "First Lady" of Badwater, and my crew and pacers,DaveThorpe and Charlie Stalnaker, know how I travel and what I need. They makesure I take time out to weigh myself to see if there has been too much gainor loss, therefore enabling me to regulate fluids, carbohydrates and salt. Iwear a Camelback filled with ice and the crew alternates drinks among water,Gatorade, Club Soda, and Classic Coke. Carboplex is added for calories. Thecrew hands me Zip loc bags filled alternately with gum drops, fig newtons,and salted tortilla chips. Every so often, I eat a turkey and jack cheesesandwich on dark bread. Later on, pieces of cold cantaloupe, honeydew andwatermelon taste great. They are nourishing and contain fluid and aren'tsticky. My hydration was so good that I had to pee 10 minutes into the race.Being thirsty or hungry is not allowed! This ritual continues hour afterhour. At first, I sip 2 4 liters of fluid an hour and eat 750 calories anhour figuring on 150 calories per mile plus 150 calories per hour of basicmetabolism.  From a medical standpoint, bowel action was normal duringtheentire race; no constipation or diarrhea.     By day break, Igot to Stovepipe Wells Village (41 miles). On the 18 mile trudge climbing5,000 ft. to Towne=sPass (59 miles) we experienced "gridlock". Four of us were almostside by side. Then things began to spread out as we dropped 3,400 feet intoPanamint Valley where we were greeted by 50 mile per hour winds and dustdevils from the south giving as a side blast from the left. At 1500 onThursday 07 15 93 I took my annual three hour break at Panamint SpringsResort after getting to the 2,000 ft. sign on the east side of PanamintValley. I chose to avoid the hottest time of the day (110 degrees) and gotout of the glare, wind and dust. This always seems to pay off later, eventhough I get passed during this time. I got bussed back to where I left offand started heading westward at 1800 reaching Panamint Springs Resort (72miles) on foot this time. There is a 3,000 ft. climb in the next 12 miles.

After passing Father Crowley Point at 80 miles and the Darwin turn off at 90miles the temperature dropped to 35 degrees. Extra clothing was in order.This would have been a good time to drink some hot soup. The Brits drank hottea with milk. I passed three separate parked vehicles in which runners weresleeping. It was getting daybreak. They must have heard me "tiptoe" bybecause there developed a cluster of three of us until we reached thesoutheast edge of Owens Valley (100 miles). We spread out along Owens Lakeas it got up to 110 degrees again. Upon reaching Lone Pine (122 miles), MarySinclair, of the Chamber of Commerce, had arranged an even bigger receptionthis year. I rounded the corner and went up the Portal Road with balloons inhand and tears of emotion in my eyes. I headed into the third sunset doingthe 13 mile and 4,600 ft. trudge to Whitney Portals being dogged by JackDenness of England. This part got very difficult. I used my Kilimanjarotechnique of stepping and breathing rhythmically. My wife used the La Mazetechnique on me. With these methods I was able to go continuously to breakthe traditional strand of toilet paper at the finish line of the race.     It was nice beingable to see the other runners this year and pass some of the time togethervisiting along the way.All of the runners and crew members and pacers were always very helpful andsupportive. This became more so this year as we got to know each otherbetter. My times were within an hour of my times of the previous years ateach check point. According to my calculations, I should be getting 3% worseeach year. The first year my fear was that I wouldn't finish. Last year Iwas afraid I might think I could become invincible. This year I feared thatI should have known better after just turning 60! I still work as aphysician 8 12 hours a day with a training base of an hour of exercise aday. In the month before this event I kick my mileage up to 10 miles a dayin the heat of Owens valley or go out to Panamint and Death Valley where itis usually 20 degrees hotter. I also work out on the Whitney Trail. A monthago there was so much snow up there that it took cramp ons, gaiters to theknees, ice axes and ski poles to get up from Trail Camp to Trail Crest.Three weeks earlier I got flushed out by a violent hail storm during whichtime a hiker got singed with lightning!     Marshall Ulrichwas always in the lead. In the darkness, coming down from Townes Pass, hedidn't follow his own instructions and twisted his ankle on a rock and fellon all fours. He was able to continue to the Portals on a bruised andstrained left ankle. He puts complete trust in his crew of Scott Weber, BillBitner, Pete Munding and Rick Senter (his new brother in law). They keptreassuring him that there was no problem with running on the damagedextremity. Being an expert ultrarunner and able to block out intense pain,he believed his crew. He was content getting to the Portals about 2 1/2hours slower than his record time of 26:18 in 1992. The wedding at the topof Whitney had to be changed to the Portals and took place on Friday07 16 92 at 1500. Peter Freitag, the preacher, came down from the top toperform the ceremony. Marshall Ulrich and Willette Senter exchanged vows andrings. Marshall designed and made the rings which exhibited a profile of the146 course and would have to be seen to be appreciated. When they gotmarried I was on the Portal Road heading toward the Portals. I am going toconsider that I was at the wedding. It's just that "THE AISLE WAS 146MILESLONG." On Saturday 07 17 93 at 1200 there was a post weddingcelebration atBoulder Creek Resort four miles south of Lone Pine which was catered byMargaret's Deli out of Independence. We were grateful to share in this