Thanks to all who supported my Badwater Double quest last year, and to those who will join be this year.
To know what it was like, see the July/August 2007 issue of Running Times which has a feature article by Raymond Britt about the ups, downs, highs, lows and ultimate success of our journey last year.
Titled 'Back to Badwater: Lisa Smith-Batchen's Badwater Double', here's the opening excerpt:
300+ miles
14,491 foot Mountain
125 degrees
7 days
1 Woman
Why?
It was about reaching a lifelong goal, about completing unfinished business on the course, about celebrating a new lease on life, and about helping others.
It was also about making the impossible possible, navigating between hope and despair, transitioning from dejection to elation, overcoming unexpected obstacles, surviving bad patches and finishing in an inexplicable blaze of speed.
At 10am on July 24, 2006, veteran elite ultramarathoner Lisa Smith-Batchen stood at the start line of the Badwater endurance run, billed as the toughest foot race in the world. She’d been there before.
But on this day, 135 miles was far short of Lisa’s goal. Her plan was to finish the race, then continue past the line to summit Mount Whitney, at 14,491 feet the tallest peak in the US. After that, she would then retrace her steps back to the Badwater 135 start line.
Lisa called it the Badwater Double. 300 miles. Give or take a few.
A Killer Resume
Lisa, now 45 years old with a home in Idaho, is an elite ultra-distance athlete, a marathoner, an Ironman triathlete, and an EcoChallenge adventure racing veteran. In her 1995 Badwater debut, she finished as second woman overall in 41 hours and 24 minutes.
In 1997 and 1998 she won the women’s division of Badwater. And she also is the only American woman ever to win the women’s division of the grueling Marathon Des Sables. She’s done it all.
But that was a lifetime ago. Lisa’s success, while it made her one of the strongest and fittest athletes on the planet, was unable to prevent the increasing grasp of an invisible force.
In The Grip
You can run, but you can’t hide from depression. It catches you by surprise, then overtakes you. Lisa got to the point where hundreds of training hours and thousands of miles steps were not enough to outrun the battles inside. The mind and body that once completed 100-mile runs with ease was forced to surrender. Abruptly.
. . . . . .
For more, see the Running Times July/August 2007 issue. Thanks to everyone for your support!
Have a great day!!!
Lisa
Mt. Whitney |
Death Valley |
Photo Credits:
"Lisa in White" (2) courtesy of Jay Farbman
Scenics at left (2) courtesy of Jim Stroup
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