07 16 1998 to

07 18 1998

HI TEC BADWATER/WHITNEY RACE XI 1998

 HELL AT BOTH ENDS THIS YEAR

"I WON'T EVER COME BACK TO THIS PLACE I CALL

TERRIBLE WATER"

- SAYS GABRIEL FLORES

     The race was no
easier this year than any years in the past. El Nino kept things cooler
several months longer but then seemed to make up for it in the remaining few
days before the start of the race. The pre race clinics were disappointingly
too "cool" over Memorial Day weekend when it barely got to over
100 degrees.
It warmed up to 113 degrees on the 4th of July weekend. I used a Kestrel
2000 wind/temperature gauge for many readings. It was 92 degrees at the
start at Badwater, 282 feet below sea level, at 0600 on Thursday 07 16 1998.
By mid afternoon the same day, it was 127 degrees (official). The next day,
Friday, there was an all time record of 129 degrees (official) for that same
day as far back as records goes for Death Valley National Park (formerly
Death Valley National Monument). By Saturday the temperature rose to 131
degrees, according to ABC Network, while the race was still in progress. The
DVNP west boundary is at about the 87 mile mark. So there was hell at the
beginning and it continued and existed at the end. Air temperatures at
Whitney Portals at 8 300 feet elevation were unusually warm and on a test
hike to Trail Camp at 12 000 feet on Sunday 07 12 1998 it was 75 degrees in
spite of the overwhelming amount of snow coverage above 11 300 feet. 

     This was the

eleventh running of Hi Tec's race. It used to start at 6:00 P.M. and for the
last two years the start has been at 6:00 A.M. The extreme runners and
adventurers wanted to test themselves in more rigorous conditions thereby
exposing themselves to more heat in Death Valley. This is patterned after
Richard Benyo and Tom Crawford of the "Death Valley 300" fame.
They went
from "fire to ice and back to fire" doing the double crossing.
These
adventure seekers had originally wanted to create a run (not a race) from
Badwater to Whitney and got 150 runners interested. They backed off because
of liability when the athletes began wondering where the day care centers,
ATM booths and hitching posts were. About that time Hi Tec and Adrian Crane
got together to test the course using a shoe entitled the "Badwater
146"
representing the mileage from Badwater to the top of Mt. Whitney at 14 496
feet elevation. In those days Adrian Crane and Tom Possert had some
challenging duels. More runners were invited in later years.
     Denise Jones, who is
also a cosmetologist, gave several foot care clinics before the race and
personally treated most of those with significant blisters. Her efforts
contributed significantly to the success of many who buckled and
finished.     

    The average age of

the 29 runners was 47.2 years. There was no appreciable wind this year and
there were no clouds and no precipitation from Death Valley to the Sierra
 during the event. My motto is that "the course is always ready"
and "get out
of the Valley." Eric Clifton did some wind sprints back and forth at
the
start line. The others shuffled around getting their pictures taken and some
formed a prayer circle. In less than a minute from taking the obligatory
group picture at the Badwater sign, the 29 starters lined up on the highway
and a ten second count down was done by Matt Frederick, Hi Tec Sports Race
Director. Then he said "go." Eric Clifton responded the most
vigorously and
built a 2.5 mile lead at one point over Marshall Ulrich, veteran of seven
previous Badwaters. Marshall has the P.M. start course record of 26:18.
Dehydration took its toll on Eric and the gap decreased until Marshall
finally overtook Eric in Panamint Valley about 70 miles and 12 hours later.
A German journalist who was following Helmut Linzbichler, from Austria,
witnessed a friendly exchange of leads. Eric called it quits at 72 miles at
Panamint Springs Resort. He made it 93 miles last year. Both years he had
run at Western States a few weeks earlier, however, the previous year he was
also getting over a motorcycle accident and leg
injuries.       
     Behind them were
Gabriel Flores and Carlos Banderas, who are more familiar with the trail
ultras in Southern California. Neither one had ever been even close to Death
Valley nor had Gabriel never been in temperatures hotter than 105 degrees.
Actually, they seemed to show up "cold" as far as knowledge of the
course
and environment is concerned. Either that or they were "sandbagging
it.” My
wife, Denise, First Lady of Badwater, spent at least an hour with them the
day before the race briefing them on race technique and strategy. Their
coach had them drink Pedialyte and Ensure and eat bananas and peanut butter
sandwiches during the race. In the race, they both changed leads several
times after they passed Marshall at around 85 95 miles. Marshall wondered to
himself "who are these guys" and finally told his crew to
"cut them loose."
Neither one knew that the last 13 miles up the Whitney Portal Road involved
a 4 600 foot climb. Gabriel informed the media and by standers "I am
not
ever coming back to this place!" I call Badwater "Terrible Water!
" He
collapsed shortly after crossing the finish line in a day time start record
time of 28:09. A mile from the finish, Carlos Banderas's crew vehicle, a
Suburban, caught on fire and burned to the ground. The trailer behind it
fused to the hitch and almost went out of control when it was released.
Dramatically, Carlos had to pass this burning wreckage in order to finish in
28:27, which also broke the previous course record. The fire was related a
faulty electrical connection and to the unusual heat wave. It represented
hell at the finish. There were many heat related incidents with vehicles and
Millers Towing made a lot of calls.     
     Marshall arrived
at the finish line adding machine tape in 30:06. This was an upgrade from
using toilet paper in previous years as the tape. His accomplishments on the
course over the last eight years are truly remarkable and greatly
appreciated.    
     Lisa Smith was
here for the third time and has won the women's division twice. Last year
she set a course record for the A.M. start of 37:01. Lisa Smith's sister,
Julie Gross, is a massage therapist who worked Marshall over both before and
after the race. Each year there are present more and more physical
therapists and fitness trainers.

    There was an

overwhelming amount of media interest this year. Lisa has a terrific
portfolio of races which include the Ironman Triathlon, Marathon des Sables
(last spring) and all of the Eco Challenges, the Extreme Games and last
year's Raid Gauloises in Africa. Within the last month she did an over 300
mile Four Winds ultra in Montana. She is getting ready to go to Ecuador for
this year's Raid Gauloises, which includes a climb of the volcano Cotopaxi
(over 21 000 ft. elevation). The day before this year's Badwater/Whitney
Race the New York Times had a large color picture of her on the front page
and a huge story and more pictures in later pages. There was a film crew
from Real TV and Brazilian TV and various journalists and photographers
covering certain runners. ABC and NBC arrived hurriedly on the scene with
their crews and large satellite up link trucks urgently wanting heat related
coverage. Apparently things had cooled down with Bill and Monica and the
heat of the Valley was a prime subject. Getting back to Lisa, she and her
crew had to get past a NPS Ranger who almost had to use pepper spray to
control the traffic and congestion. Lisa was paced by her boy friend, Eric
Speck, and Whit Rambach, previous Badwater finisher, and by Cameron Widoff,
who is expected to win the Hawaiian Ironman this year. She was wearing an
unbroken in pair of Adidas shoes and developed some horrible blisters. Her
time was 32 minutes slower than last year and she finished in 37:33. 

     The media seems to

back off at about this point but the stories go on endlessly and cover all
of the finishers as well as the 9 starters who did not finish.
     See the times
listed below for the following finishers. Each one has a unique set of
credentials and interesting reasons for having been here. Times to the top
of Whitney are included.
     Cliff Treyens,
political and marketing consultant, was looking for a challenge beyond
having done a 100 miler (Mohican) in less than 20 hours and a 24 hour USATF
ultra of over 120 miles. He was very quiet during the pre race activities
and most of us didn't see him thereafter as he was near the front and wasn't
able to stick around for the post race meeting.
     Duke Bartoo is a
product of multiple Badwater clinics held in Death Valley including Panamint
Valley and Owens Valley. He was after the challenge of the extremes in
temperature, humidity and altitude. This electrician took time off work to
cover the entire course prior to the race. His wife, Esther, was his chief
crew member, and was in constant attendance.
     Bobb Ankeney,
probation officer, was after pushing his body to an extreme and wanted the
camaraderie that goes along with the training clinics and the race
activities. Ultrarunning puts him in contact with friendlier people than the
shorter distance runners and he takes time to enjoy the scenery en route.
     Mike Zeigle is a
design engineer who says that he is getting too slow for marathons and
wanted to go from the lowest to the highest points in the Continental US as
did a few others. Going all the way seemed more popular in earlier years.

     Arthur Webb is an

electronics technician for the USPS. Buckling and being around good people
are his goals now rather than finishing in the top ten. He proved that he is
"stubborn, tenacious, self disciplining and persevering." Never
quitting or
giving up is not in his mind. He ran for charity to help abused and
abandoned children.
     Fred Vance is an
electronics design engineer. He did his own version of the race in 1991 when
he found out too late that he had finally gotten invited by Hi Tec to
participate. Last year he was here. This year he warmed up by doing three
laps (60 miles) at Barkley and the whole course at Hardrock within the cut
off time several days earlier. Catch his story on the Internet on:

http://www.badwaterbenjones.com
     Julie Teiger,
mother of four children, owns and operates a gift basket company. She has
crewed Lisa Smith twice before and got the bug. She fulfilled her wish of
experiencing the depth of her soul and the spectacle of the night sky. I was
able to assist her within the last marathon of the race with encouragement
and support along with her amazing crew of Tim Key, four time Ironman
finisher, and power lifter/video man David Matti Ace.
     Bernard Schoeneck
is a retired teacher of deaf and hearing impaired children in Germany. In
1993 he bicycled through Death Valley and last summer he pushed a cart over
the same course. Since it is freezing 300 days a year at home, the logical
thing to do is to come to Death Valley for the heat. This year he buckled in
spite of a 14 hour shut down in the middle of the race. 

     Jim Hamilton is an

aggressive business man and outdoor adventurer. He owns and operates a
number of Subway Sandwich Shops in the San Diego area. I am trying to get
him interested in opening one here in Lone Pine. Karen, his wife, of Dutch
origin, is also an ultrarunner and has a wonderful personality. She and Jim
did their research and we communicated a lot via E Mail for months. They
attended the pre race clinics and had to fight off those who wanted to
volunteer to crew him. That is almost a first for Badwater. Usually one gets
(fake) hang ups around the time the invitations go out. His will got
updated, which isn't a bad idea. Pre race carbo loading was on sweet potato
pie.
     Ephraim Romesberg
is a 67 year old retired nuclear engineer. (Last year Beacham Toler was the
oldest at 70 to finish the race). He says that he is getting too slow to do
10K's so why not do 135 miles? Over $50 000 has been raised for the American
Cancer Society by obtaining pledges and running many miles over the last ten
years. His very interesting documentary is on the web page:

http://www.badwater.com
     Scott Weber is
another interesting story. His business, Team Ultrasport is based in
Littleton, Colorado, where he does Sports Event Marketing and Coaching. He
crewed Marshall Ulrich in the past and then became the "Gravel
Man" while
doing the event and then survived the "Death Valley Quad" in 1994.
Later he
was "Comfort Man" for his ability to successfully rehabilitate in
the motels
and hospitality room along the way. We searched for a theme this year. One
name was "Media Man" for his popularity with Real TV and Brazilian
TV who
were contracted to be on the course. NBC and ABC were also entertained.
 Another name was "Luge Man" for his desire to do the down hills on
a street
luge and, in the Sierra from Trail Crest to Trail Camp, on a snow
luge. 

        Bob Lapanja is

a plant operator likes the challenge of testing the limits of the course and
to meet interesting people. These wishes were fulfilled at the pre race
clinics and the activities associated with the race itself. Via the
clinics,  E Mail and strong family support, he was able to focus on the
course successfully.
     Adam Bookspan
plays the trumpet and teaches music when he is not race walking around a
loop near his home in Florida. Thanks to E Mail, he was able to make
meticulous preparations for the race. Foot care was provided before and
during the race by Denise Jones. The media photographer took numerous photos
of the operation in the hospitality room at Panamint Springs Resort. By the
way, Jerry Graham, owner and operator, and his staff provided exceptional
service during this event as he does with all the tourists. He took photos
for the media and rushed them 71 miles to the Daily Independent in
Ridgecrest.
     Jack Denness,
driver for Lloyds of London, has completed the course five of six starts
including one out and back. The Marie Curie Foundation is the charity he ran
for this year. Fog and rain are not he best training conditions for this
race.      
     Lloyd Scott is
from the UK and is a charity worker for the Leukemia Society. There is
"Life
after Leukemia" as attested by the fact that a bone marrow transplant
from a
non relative nine years ago saved his life. Because of previous chemotherapy
for the chronic myelogenous leukemia, he had to use an abundant amount of
skin cream for sun protection which made awesome looking pictures. He was
the focus of media attention. Scott always finishes!

     Helmut Linzbichler is

from Kapfenberg, Austria. He started off being a mountaineer and extreme climber
and has been on the top of Mt. Blanc, Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, and Mt. McKinley
and was forced off Nanga Parbat by a storm. He was in the first Foot Race Across
America and has run many marathons in the States including Las Vegas, Rock and
Roll in San Diego this year and four days before this race he did the San
Francisco Marathon. The last one he finished in 3 1/2 hours because he didn't
want to miss the World Soccer Game final. A trip to South Africa was to do
Comrades. Norm Klein let him into Western States 100 to pace a 61 year old
non English speaking German and they made it 57 miles. The pre race clinics
included a climb to the top of Mt. Whitney one week before the race. Now he is
off to do the Deseret News, Crater Lake, Pikes Peak and Silver State Marathons
as well as Leadville and Wasatch 100's! As a house guest for several weeks, we
really enjoyed each other's company. We'll get even if we can ever make it to
Austria.
RACE RESULTS:
       
Name             
           Sex  &
nbsp; State  Time to Portals  Time to top
01 Flores,
Gabriel            &nb
sp;    M     
CA      28:09
02 Banderas,
Carlos            &nbs
p; M      CA      28:27
03 Ulrich,
Marshall            &n
bsp;  M      CO     
30:06            &nbsp
;    55:16 (1st)

04 Smith,
Lisa             
        
F        NJ      
37:33
05 Treyens,
Cliff            &nbsp
;     M      
OH      38:45
06 Bartoo,
Duke             
     M      
CA     
41:38            &nbsp
;    78:40 (4th)
07 Ankeney,
Bob             &
nbsp;   M      
CA      42:58
08 Zeigle,
Mike             
       M     
WI      
43:47            &nbsp
;  103:45 (5th)
09 Webb,
Arthur            &nbs
p;     M      
CA      44:44
10 Vance,
Fred             
        M     
CA      
46:34            &nbsp
;    58:48 (2nd) 

11 Teiger,
Julie            &nbsp
;        F
       UT      47:04
12 Schoeneck,
Bernard        
M      GER     47:45
13 Hamilton,
Jim             &
nbsp;    M      
CA       51:51
14 Romesberg, Ephraim      
M       CA       53:31
15 Weber,
Scott            &nbsp
;      M      
CO      
54:13            &nbsp
;    78:36:55 (3rd)

16 Lapanja,
Bob             &
nbsp;     M      
CA      
54:39            &nbsp
; 
17 Bookspan,
Adam            
M       FL       
55:30
18 Denness,
Jack             
     M      
UK       57:39
19 Scott,
Lloyd            &nbsp
;       M      
UK        57:54
20 Linzbichler,
Helmut        
M       AUT      58:57
29 starters (15 new and 5
repeaters)
Average age of finishers
47.2
Badwater Mayor Ben Jones