Both ways Badwater completed!

The race starts below sea level and finishes on Mount Whitney, including 5800 metres of height gain. It covers 135 miles and includes the hottest place on earth, the aptly named Death Valley. It’s run in July when this is hottest.

Harvey Lewis had completed this an incredible 12 times, not missing one since 2020, and winning twice.

This year he set off with typical enthusiasm, completing the first marathon (a fifth of the distance) in 3:48. As the race progressed he didn’t feel great, picked up after he has some crackers and almond milk, and kept going.

Finishing in a creditable 36:41. In the last part he had considered adding more to the challenge.

“Going through the Alabama Hills the idea popped in my mind of running from the 135 finish at the portal back to the start line – 270 miles. I felt really good. I had amnesia to the suffering I had experienced in the first jaunt and the battle in my mind with my body submitting to any distance. I would still need to see if anyone from my team would want to go.”

He took on the challenge, and encountered some of the more extreme heat he’s encountered.

“I was always mindful to have at least half of my drinks as electrolytes. The final stretch coming back from the Badwater 135 finish line at the Portal, and entering the Badwater basin area I was drinking Tailwind in one bottle and have another bottle of cold ice water that I would either drink or spray on myself.

“I rarely ever drink grape soda but in the final marathon of the journey I was often drinking grape soda as well. I even drank an entire jar of pickle juice at once. I was taking in sodium with every opportunity whether barbeque potato chips or hummus on an everything bagel.

“The hot headwind basically reduced me to a march the final stretch until the last 2-3 miles. I was already depleted and wanted to ensure finishing. My crew always maintained me within eyesight typically not further than half a mile or so. Perhaps because I had already went over 250 miles but it felt like the warmest I’ve ever run in with full exposure and the wind pushing the warmth at me from the pavement, which Alann and Judd measured to be closer to 129 degrees F.” That’s 54 Centigrade.

Vegan Power

Harvey has been vegan since 2016 after 20 years vegan. He was motivated to learn about nutrition following his mother’s stroke, and he also learned a lot about the cruelty of modern farming.

“As an ultrarunner do you spend a lot of time philosophising on your own life and the exterior life. I think a lot in nature and I connect with the plants and animals and it makes me feel they have relevance as well. Knowing the ingredients you’re putting in your body and eating the incredible variety that exists in the plant world it’s so powerful, there’s just so many options. By diversifying you actually strengthen your longevity.”