All language subtitles for the.badwater.135.2025.1080p.web.h264-grashopr_Subtitles01.ENG

( wind gusting )

( wind gusting )

( wind gusting )

( man )
Far more people have climbed
Mount Everest

than have ever completed
the Badwater 135.

( music playing )

( man )
It's a very forbidding,
dangerous place.

It's called Death Valley
for a reason.

( man )
This is the hardest
foot race in the world.

( cheering )

( man )
The air is so hot,
it feels like

there's this
massive hair dryer

that's blowing on you.

( speaking Spanish )

( man )
A lot of people are
trying to understand,

"Why would you do this?"

( woman )
When you start to really feel

the pain, it's my favorite.

I love it.

( man )
You get exactly
what you deserve.

We made small mistake
with feeding, and Badwater
never forgives.

( woman )
There's no other course
like it on the planet.

( man )
Everyone who's been
at this race,

you don't leave
the same person.

Let's do this, man.

( music continues )

( music continues )

( woman )
Ultrarunning for me is

like speaking to God
and Him speaking back.

( man )
These runners are the toughest
athletes in the world.

( woman )
The people that
just see the end go,

"Why does anybody
want to do this?"

It's a death march.
It's not pretty.

( man )
What makes these events
rich and exciting

is the overcoming adversity.

The crazier the event is,
the crazier the stories.

( music continues )

( man )
This place is magic.
That's why I'm here.

( woman )
I always like to push
the boundaries.

I like to do things
that scare me.

( in Spanish )
My problem with hemophilia
is when I have an injury,

if I have internal
bleeding, it takes
a long time to recover.

( woman )
My best running memory
is always doing Badwater.

Always.

( man )
You see every star in the sky,

and it's 117 degrees
and the sun's not even up.

( woman )
Through Badwater,
I'm going to prove

something not only to
other people but to myself.

I deserve to be here.

( in Brazilian Portuguese )
Running brings inner peace.

Running can save lives.

( in Danish )
My family and friends
think I’m crazy.

( speaking Danish )

It's 93 degrees, I guess.

I wouldn't be running fast
in a couple of hours though,
that's for sure.

You don't want to overdo it.

( song playing )

( woman )
We're live from Huntington
Beach, California.

- Let's have some fun.
- ( cheering )

Where do you want it?

I shouldn't be doing
any of this stuff.

( song continues )

( clattering )

( sighs )

All right.

Welcome, I am Chris Kostman,

the Chief Adventure Officer
at Adventure Corps,

and the race director
of the worldwide series
of Badwater races.

And why are we here today?

Well, the reason
I'm here is to announce
the incredible field

of athletes who have been
selected to compete

in the world's toughest
foot race,

the 2022 Badwater 135,

presented by Adventure Corps.

( Chris )
My name is Chris Kostman,

and I live
in Los Angeles, California,

and I am the organizer

of the Badwater 135
ultramarathon.

So it begins
at Badwater Basin,

which is 282 feet,
or 85 meters below sea level,

It's the lowest point
in North America,

and they start on
the side of the road there
at Badwater Basin,

where there's literally
a stinky pool of bad water,

which is why
it has that name.

Then they run from there

to the end of the road
on Mount Whitney,

the tallest mountain in
the continental United States.

What people don't realize,
or many people don't realize,

is that there are
three mountain ranges

before you get
to the finish line.

Now, Lone Pine is the only town
actually on the route.

There are three settlements
before that,

but Lone Pine
is the only place that,

you know, is like a town.

( music playing )

The best way to describe
the Badwater runners

when they come into Lone Pine

is it's a living representation

of "The Walking Dead"...

at their very limit
just to survive

when they're coming in
through town.

It's absolutely amazing
the mental fortitude

these people go through
to get to Lone Pine,

and then they still have the
climb up to Whitney Portal.

It's absolutely amazing,
like, how much torture

the human body can endure,
honestly.

I mean, these people
are ultrarunners,

but they're also, like,
professional suffer machines.

( music playing )

( man )
To become an ultrarunner,
you have to be crazy.

Your body is saying to you,
"Do not run."

Your mind is saying to you,
"Do not run."

You keep pushing
yourself to run.

( song playing )

Running is mostly
about happiness.

You know, when you run,
it's, like,

maybe not comfortable,

especially at the beginning

when you try to compete
and training is tough, yeah?

But after training,
in your normal life,
you feel happiness.

- ( child shouting )
- ( speaking Kalenjin )

( laughter, chattering )

That's in Kalenjin, like, "Hi."

( speaking Kalenjin )

I have to close the gate. Bye.

Bye!

Soul of Kenya... children.

Yeah, here I'm keeping shoes.

This is a...
this is a toilet and shower.

Yeah, it's together.

And here, living room.

So I'm working here,
also I'm doing exercises here.

Yeah, I like to keep
everything in order.

Like, bed is like a reward
after heavy training, yeah?

This is like
a regular house in Kenya.

Like, all houses looks the same.

( music playing )

My name is Damian Kaczmarek.

I'm an ultramarathoner.

I grew up in small village
in Poland.

I used to take my dog
to the lake just to swim.

Just to be there faster,
I started to jog.

At that time,
running wasn't so popular,

and it was pretty strange
to run.

At one point, I saw
an article about Badwater.

And I was like, "Really?

People are doing this?
That's impossible."

( zipper, fabric rustling )

I have a huge goal
in my life...

to run Badwater under 24 hours.

For sure, it's not easy.

Just eight guys
did this in history.

But I will try as long as
my body responds for training.

When I wake up,
I feel so strong,

so huge happiness,
that I want to scream.

It's feelings like this,
when you wake up,

you want to scream.

This specific feeling,
I have only here.

Only in Kenya.

At one point I realized
that most important

during the preparation
is to stay on high altitude.

Of course, there is
a lot of places in the world
with high altitude.

But there is only one place,
only one country,

where running is a religion.

It's Kenya.

This place is magic.

That's why I'm here.

Of course, to run Badwater
under 24 hours,

you have to sacrifice a lot.

So, I'm a long way from home.

- ( chattering )
- You are lonely here.
It's tough.

- I'm fine with that.
- Yeah, it's okay.

Maybe I will run Badwater
under 24 hours, maybe not.

But in the future,

I don't want to realize
that I didn't try.

It's like this.

Even if you
don't succeed, yeah?

You have to try
as long as it's possible.

That's the goal.

( wind gusting )

The Badwater 135
ultramarathon began in 1987,

but it didn't just come out
of the clear blue sky.

Before the race happened
there were a handful of runners

who ran from Badwater Basin
to Mount Whitney,

and the first one
to do that was a man

named Al Arnold in 1977.

We call him
the Neil Armstrong
of ultrarunning.

He was the first person
to prove that it was possible

to run this insane,
outrageous, epic route

from Death Valley
to Mount Whitney.

And he did it in August,
because he wanted to be there

at the hottest part
of the year.

( narrator )
"My mind would just
take off for hours.

I really began to feel like
I was part of the desert.

All the time, I'm looking
for Mount Whitney...

and I see
this grey ominous thing
way in the distance.

Hours later, I find
I'm on the same mountain
I'm looking at.

Barely kept going
all through the night.

Finally, after 84 hours,
I reached the summit.

I just laid down on a rock
and bawled my fool head off.

I had a hard time
putting into words

what I learned about myself.

But I do feel I've become
more of a tranquil person."

And then the race
started in 1987.

And it was actually a U.S.
versus U.K. four-person race

with an American man and woman

running against
a British man and woman.

After it was held once,
a shoe company heard about it
and they took it over,

and they put it on
basically as a promotional
event for their shoes.

From there, Hi-Tec
made it a little bigger,

didn't impose many rules.

There was hardly an entry...
I think the entry fee was $25.

And it was sort of
go as you please,

there's a time cut-off
at the end, and,

"Have a good time
and stay safe."

In 1999, when Hi-Tec said,
"We can't do it anymore.

We're too busy
with our company,"

we were in this quandary

of this is
a precious thing to us.

Who do we get to race direct?

( Chris )
When I was given the
opportunity to take it over,

I met with the Park Service,
and they actually thanked me.

They told me that they had
planned to shut that race down.

They weren't going to
permit it anymore

because it was out of control
and dangerous.

Basically because there was
just nobody there running it.

There were just two people
from the shoe company
and that was it.

So I went out
to the 1999 race to watch,

and then they sort of passed
the baton to me at that event,

and that was how it started.

( thunder )

( woman )
I've been running
for about 20 years.

My first ever run,
I couldn't run for a minute.

But every time I went out,
I progressed,

I ran a little bit further.

I think that's now
why I started doing, like,

really extreme races.

Because I've been
doing it for so long

and I always like
to push the boundaries.

I like to do things
that scare me.

The higher the failure rate
in a race,

the more I'm interested in it.

I'm Debbie Martin-Consani.

I live in Glasgow
in Scotland.

Do I look intense?
Like bitchy?

And I guess you would say
I'm an ultrarunner.

You know,
running is not what I do.
Running is who I am.

I basically just love running.

I love the motion of running.
I love the freedom.

I love that
I can just go anywhere.

I love running around here.

I love the architecture
and the buildings.

I'm obsessed with murals
and street art.

I run in streets
and industrial estates

and along rivers
and anywhere.

I just love
the motion of running

and just being outside
and the freedom.

You know, I can just
put on my trainers

and I can run
from my doorstep or...

I don't need anyone or
anything, I can just do it.

It fits around my schedule.

Anyone who's an ultrarunner
has heard of Badwater.

It's an iconic race.

Most people would say
it sounds horrific.

To me,
it looks like utter hell,

and I'm sure it'll feel
like hell at the time.

I am so scared of the heat.

That's gotta be
my biggest weakness.

I'm not bothered about
the fact that it's 135 miles

or the tarmac or the ascent.

The biggest factor for me
is gonna be the heat

because living in Scotland,
I just can't prepare.

A popular expression
in Scotland is,

"I love the Scottish summer.

It's my favorite day
of the year."

( laughing )
Because, you know,

we're probably gonna get one
really good day to train in,

so I'm having to do some
artificial-type heat training

because we're just
not gonna get anywhere

near those temperatures.

- 36.7. You're okay.
- Whoo-whoo!

So I'm training
in a heat chamber,

sitting in saunas a lot.

Having some
really weird conversations

with people in saunas.

I've also built a DIY
heat chamber in my garage.

Bought some plastic sheets
from Amazon

which I've stapled round,

and I've got
three portable heaters

that I'm gonna put in there.

So I've just gotta do
the best I can with what I have.

There's so many ups
and downs in ultrarunning.

I have never done a race
where I haven't hit
some massive bad patches.

But it's gonna be
a rollercoaster

and there's gonna be a lot
of dark patches in there.

I think there's
one of the questions

on the application form
where it says,

you know, "Why do you want
to do Badwater?"

Or "Why should we give you
a place?" or something.

And I just wrote,
"I'm Scottish and ginger

and don't belong
in Death Valley."

So I only assume they've
let me in for the comedy value

of seeing a Scottish woman
melt somewhere along the road.

( chattering )

The application
for the Badwater 135

is probably more challenging
than applying to go
to the university.

To even enter
that selection process

a runner has to have
certain credentials to even
submit an application.

The most common is
that they have to have done

at least three 100-mile or
longer ultramarathon races.

So not stage races,
not 24-hour races,

but actual ultramarathons

that are at least
100 miles or longer

where they go straight through.

Nobody gets into
this race casually.

There's a minimum
requirement to apply.

The expenses are tremendous.

It's probably one of the more
expensive races in the sport.

You have to rent
one of these vehicles.

You have to stock it up
with ice and gas.

And you have to rent hotels
at a few different spots

along the Badwater route.

Denise and I probably at least
spend $1,000 every year,

and we live here.

We also have another option,

which is to complete
our sister race,

the Brazil 135 in South America.

And if they've done that
and at least a 50-mile race
or longer,

that's another route
for applying.

And that basically
reflects the fact

that there aren't
that many ultramarathons

being held in South America,

and so we're trying to create

a pathway for those runners.

( music playing )

( singing in
Brazilian Portuguese )

( song continues )

( in Brazilian Portuguese )
My name is Kleber,

I am 42 years old,

and I am a professional
athlete from Brazil.

My life before running,

sometimes I don't even
want to talk about it,

because it was a very sad life.

It was a constant routine. Work,
home, work, home, work, home.

Sometimes I worked
14 to 15 hours per day.

To be honest, I never wanted
to become an athlete.

It wasn't really my goal.

It happened gradually.

The first race in my life,
my God, it was so difficult.

At the end of the race, I said,
"I'll never run again."

I think God heard this
"Never again" and said,

"No. Your life will be
made of running."

To go to Badwater,
it costs around $12,000.

It's very expensive for us.

Especially for
a Brazilian athlete

that's particularly hard
to come by.

But it also motivates me.

It's even more expensive for us,

especially coming
from a small village.

My dad was my first sponsor.

He always helped me by paying
part of my transportation

or my food wherever I went.

( speaking
Brazilian Portuguese )

He always encouraged me,

but he always
worried about me.

He worried about where
I was going, how I was doing.

I am very proud of the fact
that my son is doing his races,

that he arrived
where he is now.

I pray a lot for him to win.

He was a very humble child.

He never spoke badly to me,

but sometimes he was a bit
naughty at school.

He was running away from school.

I had to call him to order
several times,

but thank God,
now I see it paid off.

( chattering )

( Kleber)
My life completely changed.

Now I run, I'm an athlete,
an ultramarathoner.

I was very calm, very shy.

I couldn’t express
myself very well.

I didn't have a goal
in my life.

I was not going anywhere.

I had a talent
like a hidden gem.

I needed to hone it.

Nowadays, I feel ready

to tackle any
of life's challenges.

My goal in life
is to influence people,

show that it is possible
to change your life.

People who do not see
a possibility to go further,
to develop,

my goal is getting people
out of that state of mind...

"That's it. It's over.
Nothing is going well.

I'm not able
to live like this."

From this state of mind,
transform them so that
they can in turn

be able to transform
other people, too.

As for running Badwater,

it's a challenge for me.

A very personal challenge.

Badwater has always been a race

where I want
to finish in the top.

Up until now
I haven't succeeded.

But now I finally
managed to go back,

try and get a better result.
That's my goal.

That's why I'm returning,

to try do better
than the first time.

I saw you had a bunch of food
on top of the ice.

So what ice
are you gonna free up

to be able to get to
for every bottle?

( Jimmy )
One of the things that makes
Badwater distinct and unique

is the support crews.

You are required
to have a support crew.

( music playing )

Yeah, watch out.
Watch out, watch out.

They're getting out
of the van every mile,

mile and a half, two miles.

They're going to carry
all of your ice,

your fluids, your calories,

change of clothes,
change of shoes,

anything that you might need
that's going to get you

from Badwater Basin
to Mount Whitney Portal.

But as long as you
can just get to the ice
so you can fill her ice...

( man )
A runner cannot stay alive
without a support vehicle,

It's a runner's job to run.

It's the crew member's job to do
every single other thing.

And that means,
do the thinking for the runner,

suggest things early
in the race,

and then demand things
later in the race,

because the runner suffers

from exhaustion,
malnutrition.

So, you really have to take over

and do the thinking
for everyone.

I've done a lot of jobs
in my life,

a lot of manual labor,

and I've been a trial lawyer
for 40 years,

and crewing is the hardest job
I've ever done in my whole life.

And I've told people that
if you don't think it's hard,
you're not doing it right.

- Okay.
- Uh, bagels...

The truth of the matter
is about crewing

is I hate pretty much
every minute of it,

but I would hate not being
there for my wife even more,

because I know
how much it means to her.

( woman )
Spencer has been the man

encouraging me
to do more ultrarunning.

Ultrarunning for me
is like speaking to God

and him speaking back.

And it sort of reminds me
of healing when I was young.

My parents could not afford
to send me to college.

I actually got
a singing scholarship

to go to school
at University of Michigan.

So, I was going to
go to school and be a singer.

I moved to Florida,

and I had gotten
diagnosed in Florida

at age 17 with cancer.

My life was just about over.

It made me feel so angry.

I was angry at them telling me

about this diagnosis

and not telling me
about the 10% of cases

that have survived it.

So here I am today at 66,

and I have had three children,

and I have eight grandchildren.

I just feel extremely
lucky and grateful.

- ( chattering )
- Okay, okay.

I decided to change my major.

I became a nurse.

I worked in ICU.

From there on,
I have just loved every day

- of my working life.
- My name is Pam.

- I'm with anesthesia.
- Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.
I'm going to lay you on
a nice little warm bed,

and hook you up
to a bunch of monitors.

But as I'm hooking you up,
you're just going to lay there

because I've got a little
cocktail to give you.

- You'll love it.
- My approach to my health care

is to take really good care
of the patient

I am dealing with
at that time.

When I put a patient to sleep,

the last thing
I say to them is...

You're going to do really good.

Concentrate on your breath.

Slow deep breath in,
and blow it on out.

We're gonna take
real good care of you here.

That's the last thing they
hear when they go to sleep.

I got into ultrarunning
just to run Badwater,

and that is the truth.

I've never ran a marathon,
never ran a 5K,

never ran a 10K,

because I just like
running by myself.

So, I do run my own race.

I run it because
it's my prayer time

and it just silences me.

I was starting to realize

I could do things
without my kids,

which is hard for a lot
of women to see in life.

It is. You raise kids
all your life,

and then, poof, they're gone.

The empty nest syndrome
is truly a big depression,

and it happens when you're
going through menopause,

so you have hormonal changes.

I want women to know
no matter how old you are,

you can be good at anything.

I don't care what it is.

You have to create
your own life,

and create and make up
your own passions.

If I could come off
with just, um...

and I'm trying to say this
without tears...

just inspiring one person,
then I've done my job.

There's four seats right here.
There's three seats right there.

So, why don't you guys...

you know, if there's
a group of four...

( chattering )

Remember,
we're in a very remote place.

Hospitals can be very far away.

Really great hospitals
can be even further away.

You do not want to be
in a position where

you need to go
to the hospital.

And I'm talking about the racer
or the crew members.

You don't want
to be in a position where
you need medical care

because you are
very far from it.

My goal is to have 100 runners
stand on the start line,

and then award 100
Badwater 135 buckles
at the finish line.

And that's one
of the main driving reasons

that we put such an effort
into trying to select the field.

Go back, like,
10 feet, 15 feet.

I need all the runners
to back way up.

- See those banners?
- Smile!

- ( cheering )
- All right! Let's hear it.

- Badwater 135!
- Yeah!

We got 24 nations represented.

Awesome! We're done.

You guys have a great evening.

We'll see you
at Badwater Basin

for the world's
toughest foot race.

( cheers, applause )

Mm.

( in Spanish )
Do you want me to uncover it?

Mm-hmm.

( in Spanish )
I got diagnosed with hemophilia,

when I was about 20 years old.

- Is it warm enough?
- ( in English ) Almost.

( in Spanish ) Where I am from,
there were no hematologists.

My parents and I, we didn't
know that I had hemophilia.

Hemophilia gives me trouble
when I hurt myself.

I develop internal bleeding,
and it takes time to heal

if I don't get
appropriate treatment.

One time I panicked.
I was at the hospital.

I was in a coma.
I didn't know what happened.

I didn't know how many days
I stayed that way.

But when I woke up,
I couldn't see anymore
from one eye.

But progressively
my vision came back.

After that, I decided
to go to the United States.

It was a radical change for me

because my whole family
lives in Mexico.

I didn't have anybody here.
I had to start from scratch.

I didn't know anybody.

At first, I didn't have
access to medication.

My brother who stayed
in Mexico, he also suffers
from hemophilia,

and he has access
to medication.

So he would send me
some of his medication,

but I would only use them
in case of an emergency.

Now I've got access
to medication here.

I've got medication
in the house.

I can take it
whenever I need it.

Living with hemophilia
is difficult,

but not impossible.

( music playing )

Badwater is
a special race to me.

It's a race
that I hold dearly.

I really would like
to finish it.

I want to show people who
are diagnosed with hemophilia

that it is possible,
because a few months ago

my grandson was diagnosed
with hemophilia.

He's only 18 months old.

He got diagnosed
with hemophilia

and I want to show him that
he can live a normal life.

Not only for him,
but for my daughter,

because she's the one
taking care of him.

Now that I have
my treatment at home,

if I have a wound,
an injury, or bleeding,

I don't have to go
to the hospital anymore.

I feel protected,
more confident.

It allows me
to live a normal life.

( Jimmy )
The temperature of the air,

you know, is going to
be somewhere in the 120,

125 degree Fahrenheit range,

and the pavement readings
are going to be off the chart.

They're going to be
165 to 185 Fahrenheit.

They are almost
at the point you could fry
an egg on the road.

Hearing about that type
of searing heat,

going to the hottest place
on Earth

in the hottest week
of the summer,

people throwing up
on the side of the road
and heat stress.

Well, I mean, I'm not
vomiting everywhere anymore,
so that's good.

Liza, you have vomited
in very beautiful places.

- It's true, I have.
- And this is one of them.

So, how do you get the body
ready for this extreme heat?

And not just extreme heat,
but you're likely going to be

running or hiking
through two nights.

Sauna training
is a very common tenet of
Badwater participants.

You'll sweat more.
That will help with the body's
cooling mechanisms.

And just getting in
a lot of miles,
specifically road miles,

beating the body up so that it
can get a little bit stronger

and tougher
and more resilient,

so that when you're on
135 miles of desert road,

you can start to, you know,
survive that.

( cooing )

( woman speaking Danish )

( speaking Danish )

( woman )
It's called Mother In Shape.

It's something
I have made in Denmark.

Mothers who come
with their children,
and then we train together.

( speaking Danish )

There was no offer for mothers
like me who wanted to train.

I could only do, you know,
singing with the children.

( speaking Danish )

And I thought it could be
good to have something...

work out together.

It's really funny because
mothers are coming

in three months, every day,

and you get a friendship
with the mothers.

Afterwards, you still write
with them, and you see them,

and you miss them,
and you have a special bond.

You can have this as a memory,

and think of Stine.

( in Danish )
I have always been very active.

I have always done some kind
of sport since I was a child.

So I have always run
in some way,

either through soccer
or other kinds of sports.

In a way, I can't remember
a life before running.

( cheering )

As a child,
I had my energy channeled

through many forms
of exercise.

I also think that's
why I spend a lot of time
with young people,

trying to motivate them
to engage more in sports,

because it helped save me.

When I run,
I experience focus and peace.

My first run is during
the morning from 5 to 6 AM.

During that run,
I often plan the day in my head.

I also found it awesome
that I felt like I forgot
time and space.

My thoughts just drifted.

( speaking Danish )

I run because
it gives me mental clarity.

I run because it helps me
manage my thoughts.

I run because I love to run,
and I love to be outside.

Problems I can't seem to solve,

for example, work stuff,

I always seem to find
a solution when I'm running.

I think the coolest thing
about ultrarunning

is the adventure aspect of it.

The fact that you have
to travel somewhere,

and the fact that you
have to prepare for it.

( in English )
It's really funny.

Sometimes there's
people to talk with,

and they relax
and I just train.

They think I'm really,
really crazy.

( producer )
Do you think you're crazy?

- I know I'm crazy.
- ( laughter )

( in Danish )
Normally, I don't have a
structured training program.

Right now I do have one
because I have to run Badwater.

So at the moment
I run almost every day in a room

where the temperature
is around 40 degrees Celsius.

I run 45 to 60 minutes
in that room every day.

So for the first time
in my career, I have a program
I have to follow.

( in English )
Just do it.

( in Danish )
My best advice to people
is take a chance,

because even
if you don't succeed,
you'll learn a lot,

and then it will probably
work out next time.

The need to over-analyze things,
feeling secure about everything

isn't the way to go
in my opinion,

because you will never be
certain about the outcome.

I asked Dan, my husband,

if he thought
I could run 6 hours.

He didn't even
have to look at me.

He said,
"Of course you can!"

I asked do you think
I can run 12 hours?

He said, "Sure, you can
always walk for a bit."

At last I asked,
"What about 24 hours?"

Then he said,
"No, it's only crazy people
who can manage that."

So I registered
for my first 24-hour race,

and I ended up beating
the Danish national record,

which also got me a place
on the Danish national team.

So it was quite a crazy start
on my ultrarunning career.

( in English )
So, just do it.

( wind gusting )

( Jimmy )
My picture of desert

was this idea where
if you drive from Los Angeles

to Phoenix, Arizona,
it's hideous.

It's like tumbleweeds

and dust bowls and just not...

not something
you would go visit on purpose.

And once I got out
to Death Valley,

it's one of the most unique
parks in the United States.

It's got these
epic marvels of geology.

It's one of the most unique
places in the world.

( man )
Badwater is the craziest
landscape I've ever run on.

I always tell people
it's like running on Mars.

At night, you can see
every star in the universe,

and then some bonus ones
they throw out there.

It's kind of what
the race does to you.

It kind of strips
your soul bare.

Whoo!

( cheers and applause )

You find out who you are.

It doesn't matter
what you're wearing.

It doesn't matter
what you know.

It doesn't matter the money
in your bank account.

None of that can help you
get to the finish line.

( cheers and applause )

You figure out who you are.

You figure out
your true worries in life.

Whoo!

( laughter )

( music playing )

When you're out there,
there's only one person

you can really hear,
and that's yourself.

( no audible dialogue )

And most of us
never really hear ourselves

in our daily life
because of all the noise.

( music continues )

When I read about Badwater,
I kind of had

that same initial perspective
that it was something

just so crazy and so out there,

and it was these really
especially gifted athletes

that show up to do that race,

and I'm about as normal
as it gets.

- Giddy-up!
- ( chattering )

I've always had
to balance being a father

and being a parent
and being a runner.

I've basically
been a stay-at-home father
most of the time,

and I was running Run It Fast,
my side business,
out of the house.

So I was taking these kids
to school in the morning,

picking them up
in the afternoon...
different schools.

If they had a problem
or something,

I was usually
the one taking care of it.

- Whoa! Good one.
- Oh.

So, I mean,
that's always been the number
one priority in my life,

and I've worked running
and training around it.

To be able to get
the training in and have
a flexible schedule,

you gotta be able
to put a lot of pieces
together financially

to try to pay the bills.

( beeps )

I get to talk about
my passion of running,

I get to talk to people
that come in the store,

whether they're new to running

or whether they
are a very experienced runner

because we have that
connection and that bond.

I like seeing, like,
newer people into the sport.

They're usually really excited,
and I try to help them

to get to where
they wanna get to.

Your left's at 8.2.
You have non-existent arches.

They're somewhere over
in California.

This year's been extremely tough
with a lot of things

I've been dealing with
in my personal life

and trying to figure
a lot of those things out.

Running is something that's
always leveled me out.

Especially in
the further you run,

it's kind of like you get
to where the only thing

you can think about
is survival.

It's kind of always been like

a therapeutic release in a way.

And then of course, you know,
when people look at how much

and how far you run,
and you say,

"Oh, running's my therapy,"
which a lot of people say.

When you run as much as me,
you know, people are like,

"Mm. How messed up is this guy
that he's having to run

this much for therapy?"

( music playing )

When I'm into something, I,
like, keep pushing the pedal.

And that's where I'm able
to oftentimes process

a lot of things
going on in my life.

I've always said
it detoxes my soul,
it bleaches my brain,

and it helps me just,
like, get grounded again.

If I go a couple of days
without running,

everything starts
to kind of shut down.

I start to kind of
overload mentally.

So I have to go out and run.

Run or go to the gym
and lift weights.

They're both good for me.

Oftentimes, when I'm in
the middle of the desert,

even a hundred miles
before the finish line,

I'm thinking about my kids
that are camped out

at the finish line.

They're waiting for me
to get there.

Their smiles,
how proud they'll be of me

no matter how well
I did in the race.

In my lowest points in the race,
I kind of focus on them

and I can see the mountains
in the distance,

like, from 50 miles away.

I'm like,
"I gotta get to my kids.

I gotta get to my kids."

Sometimes I just do crazy
scenario games in my head.

I'm like, "All right,
the world's ending.

There's only one way
to get to my kids

and they're 50 miles away and
I gotta get there by foot."

So, like,
I've gotta get there.

It's, like,
a necessity to get there.

At the end of the day,
I feel like you have to do

what you're passionate about,
what makes you happy.

And as long as you can...
you know, for me,

keep my kids first in my life

and running
somewhere below that,

I believe that
I can handle the balance

and that's what I try to do.

( chattering )

( man )
Yeah.

Hey! What's up, guys!

- We have blue tape. Uh-huh.
- Okay, so take this.

I'll need your runner
check-in form.

And I'm going to look at your...

( woman )
For me, this is probably

the greatest moment
of my life so far,

being accepted into Badwater
and then getting to run it.

Okay, Lindsay is ready to run!
Lindsay is out there!

I can't really think
of anything greater in my life

that I've looked forward to
for so long.

This is my calling.
No matter what happens,
I'm gonna just...

I'm gonna be so excited
to just go stand
at that start line

with these legends of the sport
that are still running it.

This is who you need
a picture with!

- So I hear you...
- Truly the best in the world
are gonna be there,

and I get... like, how am I
gonna be standing there?

Like, it's truly mind-blowing.

( music playing )

When I was, I believe 13,
about in seventh grade,

my dad actually gave me
a book by an author

that is very well-known
in the running community.

His name is Dean Karnazes.

So he wrote a book
called "Ultramarathon Man,"

and in it he just describes
this race that's Badwater.

He talks about how it's so hot
and you have to wear all white,

and you've got to run
on the white strip.

Like, he really fantasizes
the whole thing.

And I don't know
what that says about me,

but I read this as a 13-year-old

and I was like,
"I've gotta do Badwater."

Like, I've gotta do this.

I've gotta be
one of those crazy people.

( music playing )

Living in Los Angeles is like
the best training ground.

It truly is,
because we've got endless
amounts of canyons,

and then you also have pavement
roads that go up forever.

You can easily get
5,000 feet of climb
in your training run.

As far as roadblocks go,

I fractured my back
when I was 14,

so my training
is definitely vital

in making sure
that my core is strong,

making sure my back
is ready for 135 miles.

I've also had foot surgery,
which gives me trouble
from time to time

due to wearing high heels
for x number of years
as a model.

I don't wish that on anybody
to have to learn how
to reuse their foot again.

Since I have been modeling
for the majority of my life,

a lot of kind of stigma
that comes with that is like,
"She can't be tough."

So for me,
I've got something to prove.

I feel like, yes,
I've been very blessed
in certain areas of my life

and I've been able to travel
the world and be this model.

On the other side,
I feel like I'm working
out of a disadvantage

in the ultrarunning world.

People really do judge you

before you even
get out on that course.

So, for me,
I feel like I've got
a lot to prove.

Through Badwater,
I'm gonna prove something

not only to other people,
but to myself.

I deserve to be here.

It's very, very tough to win
this race twice in a row,

because you have to
have a great day both times

and you have a target
on your back the second time
that you're here.

( cheers and applause )

( overlapping shouting )

Harvey Lewis,
he's probably the top
American contender here.

He's the nicest guy
in the world,

but he is so serious
when it's game time.

He has the running talent,
the experience.

Being a 10-time consecutive
Badwater veteran,

he knows what
he's doing on this course.

So I would not ever
count Harvey out

of maybe pulling off a win,

but certainly being
in the top three or top five.

( man )
"I'm psyched."

We'll just get a little bit
of ultrasound gel.

It's all warmed up, Harv.

( Harvey )
If we didn't do this right now,
can you imagine?

- ( man ) Aw, Harv.
- I'd probably be, like,

breaking up across
Death Valley or something.

( man )
You should feel this pretty
good in a second, Harv.

- ( device clicking )
- No, that's good.

- No, I don't want to
feel it too much now.
- But you can feel it?

See that? How tight that is
right there, Harv?

- ( clicking continues )
- Yeah, you think it's tight...

like, the right side
is tighter than the left side?

( man )
Yeah. We'll check it
really quick.

- I might have to switch it...
- Nah, I think
that's pretty good.

- Are you sure?
- Yeah, I'm sure I'll be ready
to go flying later today.

( music playing )

It's 93 degrees, I guess.

I'd say my suit's
about 200 degrees right now.

It's part of my heat training.

( song playing )

I wouldn't be running fast
in a couple hours though,
that's for sure.

Especially within
almost 10 days of the race,

you don't wanna overdo it.

Whew.

It's hot.

Hot, hot, hot, hot.

Oh, man, I feel the steam
coming down my legs.

( panting )

( sighs, laughs )

( woman )
Harvey's mind is so
different than anybody

that I've ever met.

He only sees positive,
all of the time.

I used to say I thought
he was just totally
out of touch with reality

was like the way
that I viewed it.

I was like, this guy is,
like, you know, off.

It's hotter than anything
I'll experience in Death Valley,

and it's also really dangerous.

Like, if someone normally
did that, they would die.

But to him, it's like,
"Go, go, go," all the time.

He always has an idea.

He's always ready
to go do something big.

It's good.

All right, now we can go out
and run some more.

( Harvey )
I became a teacher
because I felt driven

to work with young people.

I actually really struggled
in school growing up.

I had to apply myself longer
to get the same achievement

that someone else probably got
through a shorter time.

There was a major switch
in ninth grade.

I was on the track team.

I wasn't a very
competitive runner.

I'd usually finish towards

the middle of the back
or the back.

And I decided
sort of on a whim,

I was gonna run
the Cleveland Marathon

about eight or nine days
before the race.

My mom agreed to go ahead
with the idea,

even though it kind of
sounded crazy to everybody.

I really struggled
through the marathon.

Ran the first eight
or nine, ten miles,

and then after that,
I ran and walked.

It was a real pinnacle
moment for me

because it taught me
that through endurance,

you can achieve great things.

- Whoo!
- Congratulations.

Our 2021 champion
of the Badwater 135,

Harvey Lewis.

10-time finisher
and two-time winner.

He won the race
seven years ago, 2014.

( Harvey )
Winning the Badwater 135

for my second time
was a dream.

This was my 10th year
running the race.

It's kind of crazy
because back when I was
a younger person,

my mind back then would
never even imagine going out

and running for 135 miles
in 120-degree heat.

Like, that would have been,
like, pretty daunting.

The Badwater race is more
than just a race to me.

By putting myself through
that hardened experience,

the struggle, the discomfort,

I come out of that with some
greater appreciation for life.

The desert is timeless.

It's something magical.

It's serene.

Every time I return there,

it's like visiting
an old friend.

Just imagine you're out
in the middle of nowhere.

You can see for
as far as the eye can see
in all directions,

and there's not
a single human.

( woman )
That alone makes it
very unique.

Starting at a really low place

and going through
a really harsh desert...

that course is so much
like my life.

I always had a natural
love for running.

I noticed at a young age, too,
in elementary school,

I was always one of the fastest
kids in the whole school.

I loved being able to beat
the boys at the races.

And when boys
would try to chase me,

I loved that
they couldn't catch me.

You know, when I was younger,

I wanted to be
a professional soccer player.

I didn't think
that I was going to be

an ultramarathoner.

It was through a series of

just really sad events
in my life

that I didn't continue
pursuing soccer.

When I was 15 years old,

we found out that my mom
was very sick.

The doctor said, you know,
"You have breast cancer.

There's nothing
we can do to help you."

You know, "This is...
you only have a couple
years to live."

My mom was
my greatest encourager.

She was at every soccer game,
and she was always the one

that believed in me when
I didn't believe in myself.

I really couldn't imagine
my life without her.

When I was 17,

we had our final soccer game
in high school.

She, for a few weeks,
wasn't able to come to my games

because she was so sick and
she really needed to be in bed.

I was running down
the soccer field.

All of a sudden in the corner,
I notice my mom

standing beneath an umbrella.

And I was like,
"What are you doing here?"

I missed the shot on goal,
and I run over

to the corner of the field.
She's there all by herself.

She says, "I just...
I wanted to watch you play.

I love watching you play."

A couple months later
she passed away,

and I lost all hope in soccer.

The last birthday I had
with her was when I was 17.

She gave me a whole bunch
of yellow presents.

A little yellow candle
and a yellow picture frame.

And she basically just said,

"Don't be bitter
that I'm gone."

And that's where
Yellow Runner comes from.

( music playing )

This year marks the year

where I have finally
outlived her.

As a teenager,
I started wondering

what my life would be like
when I was her age.

I wondered, is that gonna be
the same path for me?

Am I gonna find out
when I'm 40 years old
that I'm gonna die?

For so long,
it was all about me being
a famous soccer player

and making all this money.

And when my mom died,
none of that mattered anymore,

and I realized that
that was a very small dream.

As years went on, you know,
I always would remember

that image of my mom
standing in the rain

when she was so weak
and in so much pain.

I always like to give her credit
as to why I was curious

or thought I could run an ultra
in the first place.

Because I thought if someone
can stand in the rain

when they're so close to death
and in so much pain,

I think I can run 100 miles.

( music continues )

( woman )
How do you feel?

Good. It's race morning.

Start at 11 PM.
Got eight hours of sleep.

Doing good.

Most races start in the morning.

So, like, you go to bed
the night before,

if you wake up at, you know,
3 or 4:00 in the morning

and the race starts at six,
you don't have that long
to think about it.

Like, just a couple of hours
and then you'll be fine.

You're starting
and the anxiety's gone.

This is like a whole day
to let you think about it.

( man )
You're talking about changing
your start time.

Yeah, I'm having
a bit of a panic.

- Having a...
- It's just a...

- Crisis. Confidence crisis.
- Last minute jitters.

It gets worse because you have
three different start waves.

So you have the 8 PM start wave,
the 9:30 PM start wave,

- and the 11:00 start wave.
- If it's possible,
I'm gonna do it.

Just give myself
that little bit of buffer

just, um, so I don't
go off too hard.

( Eric ) So the people
in the first wave,

if they were starting later,

that cut-off at mile 50
would be very tough for them.

But the downside
is the sun is still up
when they start.

The 11:00 wave,
it's the darkest,

but that cut-off
is closer for them.

So even though that last wave
has very fast runners,

if they have
just a rough patch,

their margin's smaller
than the other two waves are.

So that's kind of the downside.

I personally believe
the middle wave

is the easiest one because

you have the sun being down,

and you have an extra hour
and a half buffer.

But I think anyone
would tell you,

if you're having a bad day,

it doesn't matter
which wave you're in,

it's just a challenging
thing to do.

Now we're getting serious, Pam.

Now we're getting serious.

It's her Xena braids.

You ready to rock this thing?

Ready to rock it.

( woman )
Let's see.

We've got 30 minutes

until we gotta
get our butts out of here

and to the start line.

- All right, so...
- Almost time!

We're gonna do a quick little
last minute check

to make sure we have
everything for Pam ready.

And it looks like we have
a can of Coke that exploded.

That's the Death Valley heat
for you, folks.

That's regular.
That's regular.

- That's for the final calories.
- When we get to the start,

you guys will wanna fill this
with ice and water.

But let's get
to the start first.

Yeah, we gotta get there first.

( woman )
Debbie?

How you feeling?

I'm nervous and excited.
More excited, I think.

- I think I just
wanna get started.
- Yeah, we're gonna go.

- We're gonna do it!
- Leaving Lone Pine,
heading to the start.

( indistinct chatter )

I wanna sleep.

Last minute packing.

( man ) There's not
many moments in life

where you have
this much freedom,

where you're just, like,
on this grand adventure

and you get to do it
with the best friends

and people you trust.

And you just gotta soak it up
while you're in it

because no matter how long
it feels during it,

it'll be over
in the blink of an eye.

( woman )
Here we go to the start line.

- How you feeling, Spence?
- Oh, I'm feeling relaxed.

How about you, bombshell?

Oh, you wonder why
I'm on blood pressure medicine

- ( woman laughs )
- You...

( woman )
What time is it, Debbie?

It's 8 PM in the evening
and it's 47 degrees.

( man )
Would you like
to do this one day?

No.

( woman )
Hands in.

Good and gracious God,
thank you for bringing us
all together here today

to glorify you
and all the gifts and talents

that you've blessed us with.

Be with us
as we guide Mom through, um,

the desert,
and keep her safe and healthy,

and all of us safe and healthy
and in positive minds

- and, um...
- ( woman ) Bodies and spirit.

bodies, spirit,
all of the things.

- In your name we pray, amen.
- ( all ) Amen.

( woman )
Beautiful, Stace.

Do you wanna a cool thing on...

- Yeah, that'd be great.
- Don't trip.

( man praying quickly )
Dear heavenly Father...

We just want
to thank you for this day
and bless this life...

( continues praying )

as he gets ready to
go across the desert, Father.

Just give him the ability
and the fortitude

to be able to... whatever
comes his way, Lord.

- Let's do this!
- Yes.

- You're gonna smash it.
- You're gonna do awesome!

- Thanks so much.
- You're gonna be awesome.

- Please don't die.
- Don't die? Okay, thanks.

( woman )
Say good luck to your mom.

- ( woman ) How do you feel?
- I feel good.

- I think so. Maybe.
- You ready?

- I not ready, but... no.
- You're not ready?

I think you're more than ready.
Do you need help with that?

- Yeah.
- Okay.

( music playing )

( indistinct chatter )

- ( man ) All right, everybody.
- Let's go!

- Let's go!
- Whoo!

( man )
Okay, all the runners
line up at the sign.

( music continues )

( exhales )

We're here. We made it!

( indistinct chatter )

- All right, one, two three.
- ( chatter continues )

I think we have a couple minutes
before we have to go down.

Hands and face.

( laughter, chatter )

( man )
You all earned your spot
on this start line.

We all believe that
you are capable of doing this.

( indistinct chatter )

Everybody look straight forward.
Look straight forward.

- Three miles, okay?
- ( man ) Three miles.

- ( indistinct chatter )
- ( Chris ) You guys ready?

We're gonna count down from ten

and then you are gonna begin

the world's toughest foot race.

Ten, nine...

( crowd joins in )
Eight, seven, six,

five, four, three,

two, one!

( cheers and applause )

( Chris )
Don't start thinking
about the 135 miles

of scorching
desert mountain highway

between here
and the finish line.

Just don't think about that.

Don't think about how
you'll be running all night

and then you get to go
5,000 feet up Towne Pass!

Over 17 miles!

And you hit the top
and you're not even

anywhere near halfway yet.

Just don't think
about those things.

But definitely
think about how I will be

at the finish line
waiting for you.

( cheers and applause )

- ( man ) Let's go!
- Whoo!

- ( cheering continues )
- ( woman ) Let's go, papi!

( cheers and applause )

- ( man ) Yay!
- Now the fun begins.

- All the fun.
- Lot of work went into it.

A lot of work's
fixin' to go into it.

We'll see you guys out there.

( Eric )
That first overnight,

that's when their body realizes

you're not gonna sleep tonight.

And it's where you see a lot
of mistakes start to happen.

Let me ask you this.

What happens
if you lock yourself out

and you have to call AAA?

You're gonna take that rock

and you're gonna break
my window.

- 11 times in 23 years.
- No. You know why?

Spare keys around the neck!
You've heard my speech!

Please water up.
It's really, really hot.

It's 121. Don't stand
in back of the car.

If somebody drifts over,
we don't wanna go
to no legs land.

- Okay. Am I good to go?
- You're good to go, brother!

Go, Pam! 5-2.

She's gonna be here
in just a couple minutes.

- Oh, yeah.
-Okay, we're ready?

- Yeah, we're fine.
-All right.

( Eric )
There's pressure
on the crew, certainly.

You don't wanna do something

that jeopardizes
the runner's race.

Yeah, one now.

We can do another one
in 30 minutes.

- You gonna spray her?
- Yep.

- Have you put...
oh, you have. Well done.
- I put ice, yep.

Um, yeah,
make sure that's pumped.

- Yep. Sure.
- You want me to do that?

Uh, would you give me
half a scoop of scratch please?

Yeah, that's perfect.
Thank you.

- What about a Maurten gel?
- Got it.

- Yeah, it's in the...
- You got it?

- Okay. Water?
- Got it.

I believe this is one of
the hardest parts of the race,

even though it's very early,
because you can't see very much,

you have a lot of runners
on the road together,

and it's just a lot of
tail lights of crew vehicles

and headlights of the runners
on the other side of the road.

( man ) All right.
We're going, we're going!

Yep, going.

Yep. Got it.

- Ready, Mom?
- Keep moving.

( indistinct chatter )

- Is that dead?
- No, it's too hot.

( woman on radio )
You're gonna have to
make her water colder.

- Make her water colder.
- ( woman ) Copy!

So that means, I guess,

- uh, put the ice in the water.
- Yeah?

Put the ice in after we stop,

- not before we stop.
- Yeah. I've got... on it.

- Everywhere. Yeah.
- Everywhere?

- Is that okay? Good?
- Yeah.

- Stace,
you want a little splash?
- Sure. Thank you.

Yeah, she really wants it cold,
I mean, it's coming out...

it's ice cold water
to begin with,

- but it's pretty hot outside.
- ( woman ) Yeah.

- It is hot outside.
- Okay.

- Well, let's do the best
we can with that.
- Yep.

( music playing )

( indistinct chatter )

( indistinct chatter )

( speaking Spanish )

( speaking Polish )

( chatter continues )

- Go, go, go!
- Go, go!

- I'll just take nutrition.
- Okay.

- Just nutrition.
- Yeah, yep.

- And then thank you, guys!
- All right.

- Yeah!
- ( indistinct chatter )

All right, what do you need?

- Um, handheld.
- Or both? Handheld.

- Maurten. Okay.
- Dumping those.

- I need ice, yep.
- Want some ice? Yeah?

- Thank you. See you in two.
- Yep, yep.

- You good? Okay.
- Yep.

( man )
Just over marathon distance.

2:00. Been running for four
and a half hours.

Outside temperature
is 109 Fahrenheit.

It's chilly compared
to the start!

Debbie is motoring
so fast just now

that actually we're playing
a bit of catch-up.

You're not drinking enough,
Debbie,

according to what
we always said!

That was a quick section.

Um, we don't think
she's drinking enough,

so we're actually trying
to say drink more.

We expected we should have been
about three liters by now.

( Eric )
They call it banking time.

Just try to go faster

while it's dark
and not quite as hot,

to then have less time
in the sun

climbing in the full exposure.

The problem is
they're going too hard

and they don't realize it.

( Marco )
Susie!

Susie, did you get a Coke?

- Coke.
- Coke?

- There's a ginger sweet.
- Yeah.

- Why don't you suck that?
- Yeah, thank you.

- And a Coke? Okay?
- Coke. Get some Coke.

- Just in a flask?
- Yeah, yeah. Please? Thank you.

( Marco ) How you feeling?

- Just a bit sick.
- Yeah?

- Okay?
- Yeah.

Why don't you
just walk for a while?

Just try a wee jog.
Could we just walk
for the next bit?

( Susie )
Are you going two miles, yeah?

- Two miles. You walk.
- Halfway to 50, Mom.

You're doing great,
You're ahead of the pace.

- I... I am?
- Yes, you are.

-You're doing really well.
- Yes, you are.

- Doing brilliantly.
- Brilliantly.

You want another
Maurten gel or...

- No. Yeah.
- I'll hang on to it? Okay.

- Do you have any more ice?
- Yep.

- Boob ice?
- This one's for my back.

- For my hip
- Okay.

- ( coughing )
- Good?

- Yep. Good.
- All right.

- I'm gonna spray you again.
- Thank you.

- Mm-hmm.
- Okay, baby,
you're doing great.

- Okay. Thank you.
- You're ahead of the pace!

- Keep it up! All right!
- Run, run!

Run like the wind! Whew.

( Spencer ) Our focus now
is the 50-mile cut-off.

That's our focus.
That's our laser focus.

Get her across
the 50.8 mile by 10 AM.

All right,
what do you want to drink?

( music playing )

( woman )
Is this thing for the bra or is
there another one somewhere?

- ( man ) Uh...
- ( indistinct chatter )

Spray it with that spray. Yep.

Just some ice. Thank you.

- Thank you.
- Nice work.

Keep it up. Keep it up.

( man )
5:00 on the dot.

You can see the cars
out in the distance.

They're crewing
the other runners

all the way
as far as you can see.

- Sun's coming.
- Yeah.

( Marco ) We'll go straight
to the checkpoint,

and we'll get you there.

I'm a million times better.

Yeah, you are. Yeah, I know.

I can tell.
You perked right up.

- Here take a sweet.
- ( muttering )

- Do you want Marco
to get ready to pace?
- Eh...

( Marco )
I'll get ready.

I'll just take
a couple of these.

Cool.

You're looking great.
Well done.

Bye!

( woman )
Lights off soon. Sun's coming!

I can take this off?

( man )
I think so.

( man )
Yeah, it looks like...
yeah, I think so.

( indistinct chatter )

( Lindsay )
Pain is something
I really welcome.

The first 30 miles
of a hundred-miler

are the hardest for me
because I know
that pain is coming

and everything kind of, like,
it doesn't feel right yet.

So around mile 30
when you start to really

feel the pain,
that's where I thrive.

I can sit with that feeling
of just torture for what
feels like a lifetime.

What do you want?

Uh...

( indistinct chatter )

Yep.

( woman )
Good job, Lindsay.

( man )
Danny's, like, two people up.

( man )
Nice job, Linds!

( music playing )

( indistinct chatter )

( music continues )

( indistinct chatter )

- Shorter than usual, right?
- ( woman ) Yeah.

- Fantastic.
- Uh...

I'm gonna put this lamp
right here, guys.

- Yep.
- It's gonna need to be charged.

- Charge them all for the night.
- You got it. You got it.

( indistinct chatter )

Do it for my legs.

Back. Grab my deodorant.
It helps.

( woman )
Yeah.

Okay.
I might at some point
do a shoe change

into the white Cliftons.

( woman )
White Cliftons? Okay. Got it.

Rock and roll all night,
party every day.

( muted chatter )

You're good. You're good.

( indistinct chatter )

- Five!
- Five. Got you, Debbie!

High-fives all around.

I'm just gonna take a...

I had a very rough night.

She was throwing up a lot.

It was a little bit worrying

for quite early on in the race.

She didn't slow down,
but she was throwing up,

and she just kept running.

We were like, "Slow down,"
and she just kept running.

Now she's looking
absolutely perky as hell,
so thank goodness.

We don't have any...

( Eric )
Starting at mile 42,

you're allowed
to have one runner only...

and you can rotate who that is...
running with you.

So the pacer helps you.

They can also
carry things for you,

often like a spray bottle
to kind of cool you down.

If you didn't have a pacer,

it would be really tough
mentally.

- Number one, checking in.
- Got it!

That sounds, like, so prideful.

- "Number one, checking in."
- Nice!

- Nice work!
- Thank you.

You go, girl.

( man )
We have the van right here.

I almost stopped my watch
like I was done.

That was a good 42, guys, so...

( man )
She's doing great.
She's in great spirits.

Yeah, she's in, like, maybe 30,

40 minutes quicker
than last year.

Yeah, let's go, you guys.

( man )
Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead.

This race is all
about patience, right?

And so much is going to happen
between now and the finish line,

and she's really
kind of focused on time
and just keeping at it.

( woman )
She's not feeling sick?

No. Unh-uh, no.

- Not yet.
- But you never know.

It's a long race.

Really good.

( man ) Yeah.

( in Brazilian Portuguese )
I want to change here.

( in Brazilian Portuguese )
No, to take a shower.

She said no.

He wasn't able to eat
at the beginning

and was feeling a bit weak.

But now he his able
to eat again,

and has gained
some strength back.

I am just gonna take it off
because I am burning.

No, dry yourself
and put on Vaseline.

And one other thing, you were
running next to another runner.

You can't do that.
You can be penalized.

I can take some Coca-Cola,
and I'll catch the car there.

- Do you want to keep walking?
- No, I'll stay here for a bit.

( woman, in English )
Oh, another Brazilian runner!

( in Brazilian Portuguese )
Water from Caxambu!

( woman, in English )
Pretty exciting.

Oh, we got some film crews...

( in English )
Very hard. Whew!

( Eric )
So the next section is a
17-mile climb to Towne Pass,

and it's about 5,000 feet
of climbing.

So it's a very steady climb.

The best runners that are here
are just patient.

They know that
it's a long race,

you have so much time
to make up.

And those little minutes
you're saving here and there?

You could be giving up hours,
tens of hours,

or out of the race later on.

This is the ultimate test

of when little things go wrong

that you're doing
kind of improperly,

the penalty is massive.

Okay, uh...

( speaking Spanish )

- That hurts.
- With hemophilia this is a...

( woman )
It was a pretty small blister.

It bled out pretty good.

But I think he was able
to squeeze all the blood

and get it to stop
and tape it up really well.

So I think he'll be fine.

I think if he had waited longer,
it would have been a lot worse.

( in Spanish )
My bottle?

- ( speaking Spanish )
- I can only do so many things.

( in English )
Okay, thank you.

( Susie, on walkie )
Sorry, can you repeat that?

- Over.
- Yeah, some more ice

for the sleeves,
and we're coming up behind you.

Roger that.

( Susie )
She's been doing this
periodically,

just getting in the car,
lying down,

having five minutes,
regrouping,

and popping back out again.

- How about some...
- Rather than plowing on,

I think it's like
a little reset.

- I'll try it next stop.
- Can I, um...

( Sally )
I feel like sometimes just

a few minutes of resetting,

now I feel a lot better.

So, yeah.

And my crew won't let me
stay longer in the van.

They're like,
"You get three minutes.

That's it.
Then you're out."

So it's good.

She willed herself, you know?
After a rough night.

( Pamela ) When the cut-offs
are very steep

and you get pulled
from the race,

that's... especially early,
that's really hard.

( Eric ) There is
a cut-off at mile 50.

If you asked all
the runners in this race

are they worried about the heat
or the mileage

or any of this stuff,
they will tell you

their number one fear
is missing that cut-off.

Because if you have just even

one hour overnight
where maybe you're nauseous

or vomiting
or slowing down or walking,

all of a sudden,
that cut-off becomes real.

( woman ) It is 9:24,
and we are waiting

where Pam needs
to pass by 10:00.

There's the Adventure Corps
team, including Chris,

- ready to sweep people
off the race course...
- Ooh.

if they don't make it
here by...

Here come the bearers
of bad news.

We think we can see her.
We hope we can see her.

It's not gonna be easy.

- ( clapping )
- Woohoo!

Bring it in!

♪ She'll be coming
round the mountain ♪

♪ When she comes ♪

- Nice work!
- First checkpoint.

- The most important one!
- Yes!

- Done! Boom!
- Good job.

- ( sighs )
- ( muffled chatter )

For us! It's all for us.

- Awesome.
- What do you want, Mom?
Do you want...

- I wanna sit.
- Sit down.

- We got a seat for you.
- Here, sit in the shade.

Thank you.

At some point in most races,

your series of A-plus goals
are out the window.

We made small mistake
with feeding, and Badwater
never forgive.

So now we have to fight
to finish.

It's gonna be a long way because
it's more time in the sun.

You don't just quit
when your goal isn't
going to be achieved.

You have to find a way
to reassess and reevaluate
and set a new goal.

The goal is just to finish.

Yeah, we still have
a lot of fun.

( music playing )

Yep.

- ( woman ) Nice breeze!
- Hmm.

( music continues )

- How you feeling?
- Hot.

( woman )
You're doing great.

No.

- More than usual.
- More than usual?

- It's hot down here.
- ( indistinct chatter )

Alrighty.

- One more.
- One more.

It's hotter than two minks
having sex in a wool sock.

( Harvey )
We're struggling, man!
But that's all right!

Wouldn't be worth it
if it weren't a struggle
though, right?

You're doing great.
You're killing it.
She loves us both.

These mountains
are nothing, man.
You're doing awesome.

Here, this is coconut water.

( indistinct shouting )

- Yes, sir!
- I am concern... I...

- I am thinking of Kelly.
- Yeah.

- I hope she...
- Yeah.

- ( man )
She's right behind ya!
- Let's go!

- If you don't speed up,
she's gonna beat ya!
- Let's go!

Lots of pieces
of pretty shit up ahead.

It's my favorite place.

Favorite highway
in the whole country.

Maybe the whole world.

Let's do what seems impossible.

Let's do this, man.
Come on! Let's do it!

( Eric ) Once you
come over Towne Pass,
you have a really,

really steep descent
for about eight miles.

- Whoo!
- Feels like you're
falling off the mountain.

And then you end up
in Panamint Valley.

( wind gusting )

( wind intensifies )

- ( muted chatter )
- Right here.

We go in the van?

( Harvey )
What place are we in?

- ( man ) We're in fifth.
- Fifth place.

- I gained 10 minutes?
- On the leader, yeah.

- I gained ten minutes.
- From the last time.

It was like seven.
It was like seven minutes.

- I gained seven minutes.
- Yeah, here...

Well, I just lost
three minutes, so...

( Chris )
So Ricardo and his crew
have a vehicle

that is totally not allowed
under the race rules.

It's too big, it's too wide,
it's too tall.

We're issuing them
a time penalty,

and so Ricardo will actually
have to stop for one hour

while the clock keeps ticking
in Lone Pine.

( speaking Spanish )

There has to be
some kind of penalty,

and so that's
how we're handling it.

( speaking Spanish )

( woman )
Bye, papi!

( man )
Bye, papi!

My back has gone out,

so I just laid down for a minute

to try and get it to reset
before climbing.

Climbing hurts it.

It happens sometimes,
and today it happened, so...

The heat, I think.

I've got a lot of heat rash.

Tomorrow, it'll itch,
but today it feels like sores
or something, yeah.

I'll make it
to the finish line,

just might be
bent over sideways.

When you get
to Panamint Springs

and you know that
you have this 18-mile climb

starting right there...
it's full exposure.

There's no shade
anywhere on this course.

You climb up to
Father Crowley, which is what

most people consider
the hardest climb of the race.

( woman )
Do you like that climb?

Not really.

Not really.

( music playing )

This doesn't hurt, right?
You're gonna get through it.

The pain will be more
comfortable as you go.

( man )
She had a big IT issue.

It was kind of
going through her glutes.

Kind of locked up
so she wasn't able to run
for a big stretch.

( music continues )

( speaking Danish )

( hisses )

( man )
How are you feeling?

( speaking Spanish )

( woman, in English )
Yeah, look the other way.

( sighs )

( speaking
Brazilian Portuguese )

David, why do you always come
out when I'm walking?

I'm an athlete.

( wind gusting )

( scraping, clattering )

Doing great.

Wind keeps making
my eyes water up.

They look pretty good,
considered.

( muted chatter )

You know why Jesus couldn't be
from Death Valley?

They couldn't find three
wise men and a virgin.

Good job up the mountain.

That was some fierce heat
in the first half, and wind.

Probably the hottest it's been
when I've climbed it.

- ( indistinct chatter )
- Yeah.

Ray, the night before,
he was complaining

that it was gonna be
a cold year.

- ( woman laughs )
- ( man ) It's not cold.

Cold? It ain't cold.

It was hot at the start.

A tinge more. A little more.

All right, see you guys.

Be careful.

Back went out,
my Achilles went out.

We're making it.
We'll make it.

( wind continues )

( music playing )

( Chris )
When they hit about mile 100,

it's a slight downhill
for about 20 miles.

And it just seems
to take forever.

In fact, even though
it's supposedly

the easiest part
of the route,

most people describe it
as the most difficult.

At least mentally defeating.

( Eric )
If you had to bet on, when you
get to Darwin at mile 90,

who's gonna be a hunter,

Harvey is a hunter
every single year.

And he's very competitive.

He is here to try
to win the race,

and he will do whatever
it takes to do that.

( music continues )

There's a duel in the sun.

Look at this!
Can't beat it, man!

Three hour
back and forth foot race
between the two of them.

( man )
Since Darwin, we battle.

And how can you go by Darwin
and not stop?

( music stops )

( music resumes )

He didn't stop here.
He didn't sign the book.
He didn't get M&Ms.

Good job, Harvey.

Nerf football.
He didn't throw the football.

Whoo! Like a rocket ship!

( man ) They're right
next to each other.

( man )
It's really crazy.
It's been a blast.

He's battled, he's struggled.
It's beautiful.

What a day.

( man muttering )

( man )
Warm wind, yeah.

Like a hair dryer.

They got punished out there.

Big time, yeah.

( speaking Danish )

( speaking Danish )

( indistinct chatter )

How's the wind?

- Dude, it's gnarly. Yeah.
- I know.

I know, and it just
dries you out so bad.

( music continues )

( no audible dialogue )

Why don't you just walk
for a wee tiny bit?

- Yeah, yeah.
- Let that settle.

( Marco )
Gels are making her
a bit sick.

We had the same issue
last night.

It was instantly
making her throw up.

( woman ) Walk for a bit
and let it settle.

- Okay.
- ( Marco ) Okay?

( man )
That's what we just said.

( wind gusting )

( muted chatter )

( chatter continues )

- Alrighty.
- ( groans )

- I don't want to get up.
- ( man laughs )

Only way to get to the finish,
though, right?

- Mm-hmm.
- That's it.

( Brad )
I know how much it hurts
at the end of a marathon.

I can't think of stringing
five of them together
all at once.

- Lone Pine!
- ( Marco ) Lone Pine.

- See you at Lone Pine!
- ( man ) Welcome to Lone Pine!

Thank you.

( man )
It's been long awaited.

( in Danish )
Oh, I'm so glad to see you.

( speaking in Danish )

- ( man )
And then up the mountain.
- Yeah.

At this point, they just...

they don't want
to do anything anymore.

They don't eat,
they don't drink.

They just want to stop it,
end it, you know?

- Get to the finish line.
- ( woman ) Yeah!

( Eric ) The last climb,
it's whatever you have left.

( woman )
Even the fastest runners

rarely run the Portal road

because it's so steep.

Little magnesium for you, Harv.

Awesome.

( man )
Damian is the king of uphills.

That's his place.

He already passed on the way
to Mount Whitney,

like, seven runners.

If he can manage
to stay with this pace,

we'll be in the top,
I think, in two hours.

( Spencer )
She's running on a broken hip,
bone to bone.

She runs with a limp across
the most desolate and hostile

territory in
the entire United States.

And she did it at age 66.

What more can you
say about that?

( wind gusting )

( indistinct chatter )

It's like...

There's a car coming.

Kind of fancy taking
my chances with a car rather
than get up that hill.

- We're tired. We're...
- Sleepy.

- Sleepy.
- Exhausted.

We've been, yeah,
falling asleep a lot now.

Not driving. Yet.

But we can see the finish.

- Literally.
- Yeah.

( insect buzzing )

( wind gusting )

( wind intensifies )

( music playing )

- We finally made it!
- ( man ) There you go!

- ( laughing )
- ( man ) Nice job.

It's the first time
I have not run

across a finish line
in my lifetime,

but that was happy.

( man ) All right!
Harvey, welcome back.

- Thank you.
- ( man ) You did it, man.

I need to sit down.
I am so tired.

- Oh, yeah. Mm.
- Want something to drink?

Guys, I'm probably get
sick here and throw up maybe.

Get your drink down,
and then...

Is there a chance
that we might be able

to pull the van up closer?

- Yeah, definitely.
- Yeah.

- ( grunts )
- ( muted chatter )

- We'll come and get you.
- Yeah.

- Thanks, guys.
- Oh, jeez. To the bed.

- To the bed!
- ( chatter continues )

Hell, yeah. You've earned it.

( muted chatter )

If I get sick,
I'll open the door.

All right.

- Woohoo!
- Yeah!

- Yay!
- ( cheers and applause )

- ( sighs )
- Great job.

- ( Stine ) Thank you.
- ( man ) Congratulations!

( Stine )
Thank you very much.
Thank you.

- Would you like the buckle?
- Uh, yes, please.

Okay. Congratulations.

You are a Badwater 135
official finisher.

"Let it be given
to those most worthy."

And you are certainly
most worthy.

( Stine )
It was really funny.

- Yeah? The whole thing?
- No. No, nothing.

( laughing )

But I liked it very much.

( laughter )

( man ) All right,
Joshua Holmes! Yes!

( cheers and applause )

Awesome. Congratulations.

( Joshua )
The journey to get here
is everything I remember.

You know, the people
you make those memories with,

you know, your crew,
they remember the highs
and the lows.

And to me,
it's just the journey.

The finish is nice,
but, you know,

I remember everything
out there more.

Appreciate you guys being here.

- Tired?
- Nah.

- I feel relieved right now.
- Really?

( muted chatter, laughter )

( Marco ) This is pretty
aggressive after all.

- ( cheers and applause )
- ( woman ) Debbie!

- ( cheering continues )
- Yeah!

( laughter )

( man ) Nice.
Congratulations, Debbie.

( woman )
Great job, Debbie.

( man )
Fantastic.

( Susie )
Stop your watch!

- Fantastic.
- Aww, thank you so much.

Congratulations.
You're the best.

- Oh!
- So inspirational.

- Bring it in!
- All right, congratulations.

- You're awesome!
- Aww, thank you.

I mean, that was endless.

( laughter )

- I've aged somewhat.
- Yeah.

Well, congratulations.

And this is the elevation
profile down in there.

- See, here's Death Valley.
- Yeah, that bit at the end
is unnecessary.

- No, that's... that's what...
- ( laughter )

- It's just rude!
- That's how you crown
the achievement.

- ( man ) Good job.
- ( woman ) Sally!

( cheering )

( man )
All right, Sally.
Congratulations.

( song playing )

( laughing )

( man )
You got this. All good.

It's all good. It's all right.

( laughs )

( song continues )

- ( cheering )
- No, no. It's DNF.

- ( woman ) What?
- ( laughter )

( cheering )

Yes, bruh! We did it!

( Chris )
Damian, congratulations.

You came all the way from Poland
to the world's hottest place

and the world's toughest
foot race.

You are a Badwater 135
official finisher.

( song continues )

( muffled )
Congratulations.

All right,
and this is the buckle.

You see,
this is the race route.

( normal audio )
And this says in Latin,

"Let it be given
to those most worthy."

And you are most worthy.

So, congratulations.
Hold that with the shirts.

- ( cheers and applause )
- ( man ) Congratulations.

( woman )
Congratulations to all.

( Ricardo )
Yes. We did it.

( song continues )

( no audible dialogue )

( cheering )

( woman )
Congratulations.

( cheering )

( man )
She puts her mind to something

and you just wonder
what it's going to be next.

- She always does it.
- Sorry, it took me so long.

She's been that way since
she was a kindergartner.

So we're really proud
of her, yeah.

( cheering )

( Spencer )
She overcame so much.

Every doctor she goes to says
she's never going to run again,
never going to compete.

She ignores everybody.
She comes out here and limps

to the finish line
in 44 hours.

What we saw
is just incredible courage.

Just unmatched courage
and bravery.

She just showed
how much heart she had.
I'm so proud of her.

- I love you.
- Love you.

- ( cheering )
- ( bell ringing )

( song continues )

Whoo!

- ( cheering )
- ( man ) Yeah!

( cheering continues )

( man ) Yeah!

( cheering )

Arigato!

( cheering )

( crowd )
Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob!

- Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob!
- Yeah!

- ( cheering )
- ( chanting continues )

- ( cheering )
- ( man ) Yeah, Bob!

( cheering continues )

Congratulations,
to everybody that...

( woman )
We're so happy for you.

that actually
finished the race.

( woman )
You finished!

And, no, I am not
going to do this again.

( laughter )

- ( woman )
Congratulations, Bob!
- ( woman ) Good job, Bob!

- ( woman )
You say that now, Bob.
- ( laughter )

- Good job.
- ( man ) Yeah,
I knew you could.

( song ends )

( music playing )

- ( song playing )
- ( thunder )

( song continues )

- Move your ass!
- ( man ) Real nice.

- It'll rain a little at midday.
- Okay.

( woman )
You crazy.

( indistinct chatter )

Oh, he stole the water.

Look at that thief over there.

Okay.

( song continues )

( screams )

( sighs )

( muttering )

No, no. No, no.

You want more?

( music continues )

( song continues )

( song ends )

( music fades )