Eighty-five runners from fourteen countries and twenty American states ran 135 miles non-stop from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney on July 24-26, 2006 in the 29th 135-mile Kiehl's Badwater Ultramarathon. Placing first for the second year in a row was Scott Jurek, who was nearly beaten by a previously unknown rookie named Akos Konya, a citizen of Hungary who resides in Oceanside, CA.
The start line is at Badwater, Death Valley, which marks the lowest elevation in the Western Hemisphere at 280' (85m) below sea level. Following 135 miles of paved roads, the race finishes at Mt. Whitney Portal at 8360' (2533m). The Badwater course covers three mountain ranges for a total of 13,000' (3962m) of cumulative vertical ascent and 4,700' (1433m) of cumulative descent. The Portal is the trailhead to the Mt. Whitney summit, the highest point in the contiguous United States. Competitors travel through places or landmarks with names like Mushroom Rock, Furnace Creek, Salt Creek, Devil's Cornfield, Devil's Golf Course, Stovepipe Wells, Keeler and Lone Pine.
The race began with the traditional wave start, with 26 runners beginning at 6am, 28 at 8am, and 32 at 10am. This is done because of lack of parking at the start line and, even more so, to minimize congestion of runners, crew, and vehicles on the roadway in the National Park. Because hosting food and drink checkpoints along the side of the road in this forbidding environment is impossible, each entrant brings their own support vehicle and at least two support crew members to tend to all their needs.
Chris Kostman, Mike Schafer, Chris Ragsdale, Rachel Schmitt, Kai Norwood. [ Ссылка ]

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