Beating Badwater - Ultramarathoner Scott Jurek

[robert]

Beating Badwater

What do 'ultramarathoners' do to conquer one of the toughest races in

the world? Easy. Don't stop running

By Elizabeth M. Gillespie

Associated Press

Seattle |

 

The sun has not quite risen on a cool, cloudy morning as Scott Jurek

straps a water bottle to his right hand and starts running up a steep

alder-lined trail, heading to the summit of Mount Si.

 

Most of the ultramarathons he runs take him through similar terrain. But

now he's training for a race he spent years avoiding, because it

stretches across 135 miles of Southern California asphalt in the cruel

midsummer heat of a vast desert.

 

On July 24, Jurek and about 90 other of the world's most seasoned

long-distance runners will take on the notoriously grueling Badwater

Ultramarathon, which begins in the belly of Death Valley and ends more

than halfway up Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the continental

United States.

 

With temperatures that often soar past 120 degrees, many runners wear

hats and bandanas equipped with pockets for ice cubes that melt every

mile or so. Five times during last year's race, Jurek spent several

minutes sitting in a super-sized cooler full of ice water.

 

A running coach, pitchman for Brooks Sports, Inc., and physical

therapist based in Seattle, the 32-year-old Jurek ran Badwater for the

first time last year, just two weeks after his seventh consecutive win

at the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run in Northern California.

 

Few were surprised that he won and set a Badwater course record of 24

hours, 36 minutes and 8 seconds. This year, he's out to finish it in

less than a day.

 

"I think his chances are excellent," said Marshall Ulrich, a four-time

Badwater winner. "I think he may not just break 24 hours - he may break

23 hours or maybe even 22."

 

Some people thought Jurek was crazy last year when he ran it so soon

after Western States. Even he acknowledged it was "a little bit over the

edge."

 

This year, he's skipping Western States and concentrating on Badwater.

He'll be heading down to Death Valley 2 weeks before the race, spending

more than double the time he did last year getting acclimated to the

searing heat.

 

"Definitely being more heat-trained this year, knowing the course,

knowing how my body reacts to certain stages of the race will be a huge

benefit," Jurek said after wrapping up a recent training run up the

4-mile Mount Si trail, an elevation gain of nearly 4,000 feet, in less

than an hour.

 

He was "taking it easy" that day, he said, running up the mountain only

once instead of three times because he had run a 100-kilometer race a

week before.

 

During the hottest hours of the day, runners rarely see their own sweat.

It evaporates that quickly. They have to monitor their electrolyte

levels regularly throughout the race, and hop on scales to weigh

themselves every hour or two, to make sure their bodies are processing

all the fluids they're sucking down.

 

At times, Jurek's weight was down three or four pounds - a lot, he said,

for a man who weighs 165. He guzzled about a gallon of water every

couple of hours, but figured out it wasn't quite enough. This year, he

plans to drink more and weigh himself more often to make sure he drops

no more than a pound or two at any given time.

 

Some Badwater runners take sleep breaks. Jurek lay down at one of his

low points last year, but never snoozed. At one low point last year, he

had a rare bout of vomiting. At other lows, he said it felt draining

just to walk. He ran backward a time or two just to vary his stride,

giving his muscles a bit of a break.

 

His goal all along was to win the race, but he held back and let others

lead until mile 90 or so. That impressed Lisa Bliss, who served as the

race medical director.

 

"He was able to plan and pace himself very well. I think in that respect

he's a phenomenal runner," said Bliss, a veteran ultrarunner who

finished Badwater two years ago.

 

Tall and trim but a bit less lanky than many hard-core runners, Jurek

logs 55-70 miles a week on average, and 100-120 as he's peaking before a

big race - running as many as he can on wooded trails. In recent years,

he's added yoga, weightlifting and a vegan diet to his training regimen.

 

Instead of milk, eggs, steak and other staples of many meat-eating

runners' diets, Jurek eats a lot of tofu, tempeh (a high-protein food

made of cooked soybeans) and whole grains, and adds things such as

almonds, hemp seed and protein powder to the smoothies he often blends

up for breakfast.

 

Jurek hasn't always been an avid runner. He used to hate it. Growing up

outside Duluth, Minn., he did a lot of cross-country skiing. When he got

into the racing circuit, he ran in the offseason, but only to stay in

shape for the winter. "Running just seemed really boring and

monotonous," he said one recent afternoon from the office of Beyond

Running, the company he runs with his wife, Leah.

 

He decided to give long-distance running a try after a friend raved

about his experience running - and winning - a 50-mile race.

 

Jurek entered the same race, the Minnesota Voyageur 50-Mile Run, a year

later at age 20 and came in second in a field of about 100 runners.

Despite the impressive finish, he wasn't sure he'd ever do it again.

 

"Much like a lot of first-time marathoners, when you finish, it's like,

'Never again,' you know, 'That's it. I'm stopping here,"' Jurek said. A

few hours after the pain wore off, he said he decided, "Hey, I might

want to give this a go."

 

 

Michael A. Brazell CFT CSN MAT

Certified Fitness Specialist

Vegan Campaign Coordinator | Vegan Health and Fitness

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

(757) 943-0503 (cell)

(757) 213-8703

 

www.goveg.com

www.veganbodybuilding.com

[Guest]

That man is nutsos...but surely he'll break his record just because he knows the race better...even if he's not in better shape he'll do better so long as he feels good.

[willpeavy]

Jurek won it again http://www.badwater.com/2006web/2006splits.html

[robert]

Scott Rules! I need to get in touch with him again. He's a rising star in the Vegan Athlete movement.

 

Well done Scotty!!!!!

[Guest]

This is great!!! Now he's got a little bit of competition so I think he'll step it up another notch...if the hungarian wants to close the gap he'll have to go raw which will be good for veganism too.

[robert]

I heard there was a big ESPN The Magazine interview with Scott. A friend told me. Anyone know more about this. It would be cool if that were the case, that is a major sports magazine!