Death Valley Marathon

Two Marathons in a Month
I signed up for the Death Valley Marathon because it seemed like it would be a great experience and I signed up for the Malibu Marathon because it was an inaugural event and a friend was also running it. At some point I realized that these two races were only three weeks apart. Then I got crazy busy and pretty much stopped training. In the last 2 months I probably have ran a half a dozen times. Ooops!!!!

Running Under the Sea

The Borax Death Valley Marathon is an out and back course that starts and ends at Furnace Creek Ranch, elevation 190 feet below sea level, straight out Highway 190 (strange coincidence)



Skye and me before the race. It was cold, but I knew that after a couple of hours of running under the desert sun, I would warm up.



Getting ready to embark on another adventure.



Can you find me?



Several miles into the run, on the "flat" course.

The marathoners took off first followed by the half-marathoners and finally the 10k runners took off. When the half-marathon guys and gals blew past me, it kind of quickened my pace.

During the entire race, I would be checking my watch, see that I was going at a faster pace and try to slow down a little. It wasn't until mile 18 or so that I actually believed I might not totally bonk and be reduced to a crawl in the last couple of miles.



I'm just about to the half-way mark.


Video of me running back towards the beginning.



Shots from the course. The beauty and serenity of Death Valley



The scenery did change, a little, but after a couple hours of plodding I was definitely missing my music. (For safety reason, the National Park will not allow headphones to be worn during the event)




Nearing the finish line.

About a mile and a half from the finish, my right hamstring totally started cramping, as did my right and left calf. I had to walk a little but then was able to push through and have a pretty good finish.



The medal, the sweet reward of completion and a PR of 4 hours and 22 minutes.