Smith-Batchen to double her 'Badwater Double' feat

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

By Jake Nichols

You’ll have to excuse Lisa Smith-Batchen if it sounds like she’s lost her mind. It’s probably the heat.

The world-renowned endurance athlete, who lives in Driggs, Idaho, is currently participating in the Badwater ultramarathon in California – the most grueling race on the planet. Ninety of the world’s grittiest marathoners are allowed three days to finish the 135-mile trek that begins at the lowest elevation in the western hemisphere – 280 feet below sea level – and ends halfway up Mt. Whitney, at 8,360 feet above sea level. On the way, sleep-deprived runners will trudge through the blast furnace of Death Valley where temperatures soar to 130 degrees.

“I’m hoping to do it in 48 hours or better,” said Smith-Batchen, who has been the fastest woman twice in seven tries. “I intend to pace myself to do the best I can. If I feel great, I may push it a little more. A lot of it is dependent on the weather and conditions.”

Smith-Batchen will pace herself because, when every other contestant begins an IV-drip or starts gobbling potassium pills at the finish line, she will continue on to Whitney’s 14,494-foot summit, then descend. She’ll rest for eight hours, max, then run the whole Badwater thing again in reverse.

What may seem like a touch of madness brought on by heatstroke is really a challenge and a cause for Smith-Batchen. She completed the “Badwater Double,” as she calls it, last year, raising awareness and over a quarter-million dollars for the Religious Teachers Filippini Mission Fund. This year, she is running for the Myeloproliferative Disorder (MPD) Foundation, a research organization helping those afflicted with the form of bone marrow cancer. The disease took the life of Iditarod champion musher Susan Butcher last summer at the age of 50.

For a woman who says she enjoys setting goals and dreams and then chasing them down, running 300 miles in six days over terrain that would cripple a pack horse is a day at the office. Her co-workers are a half-dozen crew members she values with every step. They will run with her, encourage her, and prepare food and drink for her along the way.

Smith-Batchen has gained international fame competing in more than 30 ultramarathons, 90 marathons, and seven Ironman triathlons. She has started and finished the Marathon Des Sables twice, a race through the Sahara Desert, and is the only American woman ever to win the women’s division of that race. Her exploits have gained worldwide media attention: appearances on ESPN, Discovery Channel, ABC’s Wide World of Sports, NBC’s Nightly News with Tom Brokaw and Good Morning America; and, stories  in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Runner’s World, Sports Illustrated,and Outside Magazine.

This summer’s hot spell has helped the 46-year-old mother of two prepare for the scorching heat she will face at Badwater. “This year is the first year that we’ve lived here where I feel like we got some good heat training,” Smith-Batchen said. “I don’t do well with sauna training and other small spaces like that.”

Smith-Batchen has been running up and down Teton Pass from Wilson up to four times a day to prepare for the rigors of the 30-year-old California race.

She will offer free training, weekly, to any valley runners interested in improving their technique and conditioning on Wednesday nights in August beginning at 6 p.m. at the high school track.

Smith-Batchen hopes to raise $50,000 for the MPD Foundation. To help, or to follow her trek, visit www.firstgiving.com/badwatermpdlsb, or send a check to: MPD Foundation, 233 South Wacker Drive, Suite 375, Chicago, IL 60606. In the check’s memo field, write: “Lisa Smith-Batchen/Badwater Double.”
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Smith-Batchen to double her 'Badwater Double' feat | Planet JH News Article: Sports & Recreation

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