Badwater Salton Sea 2021

Badwater Salton Sea 2021

Third place at Badwater Salton Sea. 18-hour 40ish minutes. Team 'Chasing Who?' Ray Sanchez, Kenny Ringled, and myself.  

Badwater Salton Sea is a team race, not a relay race, but a race in which you run with your teammates the entire time. The  route covers 81 miles (130km) from Salton City (elevation 234 feet / 71m below sea level) to Palomar Mountain, the almost tallest mountain in San Diego County (elevation 5500 feet / 1676m.) Nine of the 81 race miles pass through Anza-Borrego State Park on a single-track trail known as the California Riding and Hiking Trail from near Borrego Springs to near Ranchita, creating a race route that is a mix of road and trail. There is a total elevation gain of over 9000 feet (2740m). This proves challenging in the rollercoaster of ultrarunning because your highs might be your teammate's lows and vice versa. Typically, the race is run in May but was rescheduled this year because of, well, you know.

Ray and I have a significant racing history together. I met Ray while racing in China 5 years ago and have maintained a good friendship with him. We actually did Badwater Salton Sea in 2018 together with Jared Fetterolf and got first place. So when he called me with a month to go and asked me to join his team, I quickly decided to go for it. Was I ready to race it? No, I was not. I did not feel that I was in good race shape and was stressed about my performance most of the month. Ray had sold me on joining the team by telling me he didn’t care how we did and that his main goal was just to have fun. Perfect, I thought to myself. The night before the race, I called Ray to discuss basic logistics, and he told me that he thought we could get the course record and win the race. Well shit. Ray had a plan, and I was just there for fun. 

My wife, Lauren, graciously agreed to be my crew chief for the race. Her job is the hardest as she has to take care of me and keep me alive. All I have to do is run. That’s the easy part. 

We awoke at 1:30 am to get ready and drive to the race. I had worked seven days straight (168 hours) at work beforehand and was a bit exhausted. At 2 am the clocks changed back to 1 am. Shit, we had gotten up an hour early, and it was time change. I could have gotten an extra hour of sleep. We dropped our car off at the Borrego Springs resort and carpooled to the start line with our team. Ray had Remo Spagnol as his crew chief, and Kenny had John Radich, so we were in good shape.

We witnessed an incredible sunrise at the start line, which always puts me in the best mood. The race starts next to the Salton Sea, and you hike out into the salt-crusted landscape, over brittle fish bones and rancid smells. The national anthem, pictures, the race director, Chris Kostman, remind us how bad we’re going to suffer, and we’re off. Ray planned to take it easy and run around a 10-minute mile for the first 40 miles. The first 7 miles are very flat, and we probably dipped into the 9-minute pace at times, but we tried very hard to dial it back. After 7 miles, the course starts moving West, and you have a 28 mile mostly uphill section to Borrego Springs. It’s not a steep uphill but just enough for your legs to feel it. Yes, there is a bit of downhill at times and some flat to give your legs a break. Our team ran very smartly and strong for 35 miles. Our crew kept us moving, and we didn’t have to stop. Every 3 miles, our crew would pull over in the van and meet us with new water bottles, food, and a bucket of ice to dip our bandanas in. Yes, it was getting hot. We kept an even 9 to 10-minute pace and just cruised into Borrego Springs. At Borrego Springs, we decided to take a 5-minute break and get some more significant calories on board. I had my signature avocado burrito and was in heaven. Avocados for the win. We were all feeling good, and we were excited to enter the Anza Borrego trail section of the race. All 3 of us love big climbs and technical trails. Unfortunately, as we left the aid station, Ray started puking. Many, many times. With the vomit came crippling leg cramps and our steady pace turned into a painful 45-minute mile. We had 5 miles to get to the trailhead, and most of it was spent walking. Ray was in the hurt box, and we tried our hardest to help him. At the trailhead, we tried to cool Ray down in the car and rehydrate him. This year we had to carry a lot more mandatory gear through this section. There was a list, and they checked that we had everything before we left. Ray hadn’t improved much, but his stubbornness pushed him on, and we started slowly up the trail. It was very steep and very technical. This does not mix well with crippling calf cramps. After 45 minutes, 700 feet of vert and a mile up the mountain, and he couldn't even walk. We made a team decision to have him sleep in the shade and see if he could reset. If the cramps wouldn’t stop, we made the team decision that we would have to hike back down and DNF. After about 45 minutes of lying down, Ray stood up and said he felt better. Still a bit wobbly, we decided to test his legs out and gave him a 100-yard challenge. If he could go uphill and not cramp for 100 yards, we would keep going, but if the pain were too great, then downhill, we would go. Wouldn’t you know it? Ray started moving up that trail like a possessed mountain goat and never stopped. At times I even had a hard time keeping up with him. As the golden hour approached, we were treated to a beautiful Anza-Borrego trail with cactus illuminated in the light. A stunning sunset and then darkness. I’ve never been through this section in pure darkness, and it wasn’t easy. We got through and met back up with our crew. Only 50k (31 miles) to go! We spent a little bit more time at this getting ourselves back to normal. I actually put on my windbreaker because I was starting to get cold. We had a nice downhill section for at least 10 miles and were all able to find our legs and get back to our 10-minute pace. We continued to meet our crew every 3 miles, although the breaks started to get longer. We were eating more and starting to require more maintenance, which often happens later in an ultramarathon. After those ten downhill miles, we turn onto my least favorite part of the course. It’s 9 miles of a busy road with minimal shoulder mixed with darkness and some asshole drivers. It’s rolling with some bigger climbs; at least they felt big at that point. Again we continued to move with a purpose. Ray was pushing us hard. At times running the uphill at a 9:15 pace. At mile 69, we got to the bottom of Palomar Mountain. I had been thinking about this spot and emotionally preparing for it for over a month. Twelve miles of mostly uphill with 3500’ of vertical climbing. The first couple miles are 500’ of vert per mile. We made the team decision to slow down to a 12 minute/mile pace and just try and grind it out. We were able to maintain that for the first 5 miles. But after that, we started incorporating very short walk breaks to give our legs a small rest. We had the aid station van stop every mile at this point. The struggle up this mountain was real. We all were deep in the pain cave, grunting, and suffering. Yet, we all kept that good pace and didn’t stop. With 3 miles to go, my left hamstring started cramping a bit, so I started dragging my leg with me. Scrap, Scrap, Scrap went my shoe. And before we knew it, there was the finish line, of course, at the top of some stairs. We heard someone yell, watch the top step, be careful. As we got to it, both Kenny and I tripped and almost fell. It made for a good finish. What an adventure. I feel so lucky to have gotten to run with two amazing runners all day and night. We were able to overcome some very challenging obstacles and still persevere. As always, Smile, or you’re doing it wrong.

Thank you again to my wife for crewing me.