Thank you so much for all the well wishes over the course of the race! There was no cell phone coverage out there but I was pleased to read them all when I finished.
As for the race it was pretty tough! The heat in Death Valley over the first 42 miles is actually the easier part! The first big climb is 17 miles long and the winds this year were some of the worst in the race history, 25-30 mph with gusts higher at some points near the top. The fact that is was non stop climbing without a break was what really wears you out. When you get to the top you have your only real down hill but it was 9 miles long at 9% grade. After all that pounding I ended up with a female issue the boys don”t have to worry about 
. We got to Panamint and I took a brief nap for 20 min and recuperated for the second climb another 12 miles up. On day two the sun was strong, one of my crew got Heat stroke and so I power walked a good bit down into Lone Pine. It was a long 50k that day but was able to bank a good bit of energy. The final 13 mile climb up Mt Whitney is just brutal! I was seeing these amazing huge lions on the side of the road with there heads between their paws just watching me go by. Turns out they were just bushes but that was my crew”s opinion . I got to the top in good time and finished under 40 hours at 39:30.41 with a strong run to the finish feeling great. I ended up 47th out of 94. They had 12 DNF including 3 previous winners and this was the most in recent years, normal DNF is only 5 or 6. I was the 11th Female and 4th from the USA. What an honor to run with these athletes!
Definitely not a fan of running in the heat but this helped make it all relative. 103 in Dallas and it feels pretty nice! Again I can’t thank you all enough for your support.
Endurance Buzz has a nice interview with me about my Badwater experience
And some picts…
