Death Valley Race Report

So, it's only taken about 6 weeks for me to put into words what was the most miserable run of my life (and I believe Heather would agree with that statement). It's took me almost that long to physically recover from it - we'll work on the mental scars later.

Our fears came true and the race organizers, at the behest of the Park Service closed the original race course. Something about the fact that there was snow on the pass and flash floods in the slot canyon made everyone's insurance companies a bit nervous.

Normally, during February, Death Valley is one of the dryest places in the United States - it typically only rains about 2 inches per year. It received it's name after a group of settlers thought they'd take a short cut through the valley rather than braving the mountains of what is now eastern California. Given it's moniker, you can only imagine how that turned out. To the right, Death Valley 364 days a year.


Well, it did not live up to to its desert reputation the Death Valley Trail marathon. This year we opted to stay at the "host hotel" where we met the buses that drove us to the start. When we woke up, we both got dressed in multiple layers thinking we'd freeze on the run. We gathered our things and left the room for the short walk to the busses. About half way there, we realized we had forgotten something. When we got back to the room, we decided it really wasn't that cold, and we didn't need all those layers (bad decision).

To the left, Death Valley, February 6, 2009.

When we stepped off the busses onto the totally exposed valley floor, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped. We stood around for a while waiting for all of the buses to start as it started to rain, and rain, and blow...

It was awful, completely, totally awful. Heather (wisely) opted for the shorter distance but pretty much shared the misery. The course was an out & back but mostly flat. Running out to mile 13, I had a pretty good pace going - the hardest part was picking a path through the rocks and washboard that covered the "road." Then I had to turn around and I realized why it was such an easy pace - I had a tailwind the entire way. Running back to the finish was nothing short of misery.

So to recap, it was cold, wet, rocky and all in all miserable. Oh, and I tore up my Peroneal Tendons (outside of the lower leg) by running in a pair of shoes that I shouldn't have purchased.

Next August when registration opens, I can guarantee Heather and I will be slapping our $100 down to do it again!