JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The world's toughest foot race - that's how the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon bills itself. Competitors have to run 135 miles and cover three mountain ranges, ascending more than 14,000 feet in just 48 hours. This brutal race starts at Death Valley's Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America, and it climbs to Whitney Portal, the trailhead to Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous U.S. And 80-year-old Bob Becker of Florida, well, he was ready for the challenge. Last week, he became the oldest person ever to complete the Badwater 135, and Bob Becker joins me now. Hi there.
BOB BECKER: Hi. How are you, Juana?
SUMMERS: I am well. First of all, I just have to say congratulations.
BECKER: (Laughter) Thanks. I appreciate it. It was quite an adventure.
SUMMERS: OK, take us back, if you can, to the moment when you finished this grueling course. How were you feeling? What was going through your head?
BECKER: Wow. Well, relief, I suppose, and sort of exultation all at the same time. There were a lot of people there really encouraging me and cheering me on and congratulating me. And it was a bit overwhelming after 48 hours with a total of one hour's sleep broken into a couple of pieces. So, you know, you're running on adrenaline in a race like that - a good bit of it, anyway. And when you hit that finish line and you actually have reached your goal, it - you're half exalted and half falling apart (laughter).
SUMMERS: OK, Bob, I just have to back up here for a second. Did you say one hour of sleep, but not even one continuous hour of sleep, just a little bit here and there where you could?
BECKER: Yeah, that's right. The race actually starts at night. I started at 8:00 p.m. last Monday. So we run through the night. And because it's a 48-hour race and it took me 45 hours to finish, I ran through two nights. So the first night was not a real problem. And then during the day - the second day - the sunshine keeps you going, but your body clock gets a little thrown off. So the second night, I needed to get some sleep, and I was able to take a break for 50 minutes, and then later in the night, another 20-minute break. And otherwise, I kept moving, and, you know, the clock's running.
SUMMERS: Now, for people like me who follow trail running and ultramarathoning, Badwater is the kind of race that you sort of know it has this reputation of being super tough, so I just want to talk about a few of the details of this race. It usually happens in July, so I have to imagine, Bob, that the portion of this race that's in Death Valley has to be absolutely scorching.
BECKER: Yeah, it's pretty warm. The temperature at the start was 118 this year, and because of the nature of the - of Death Valley, with all the rocks and sand and the road that we're running on, it absorbs that heat. So it radiates back that heat, so it doesn't cool off very quickly once the sun goes down.
SUMMERS: Now, I've run in a lot of really hot conditions, but never anything close to 118 degrees. I do have to ask - what does that do to one's body, and what does it do to the soles of your shoes when you're crossing that terrain?
BECKER: (Laughter) Well, I was very fortunate that my shoes and feet held up quite well. I never changed my shoes or socks actually, in this particular case. But in this race, you have a support crew that leapfrogs you along the route, and you meet up every couple of miles for a fresh bottle of water, for ice to put in an ice bandana to put around your neck. And that's where you rely on your support crew to keep you going and keep you on track.
SUMMERS: I understand that you ran in high school but didn't seriously get into running until you were 60. Tell us the story.
BECKER: (Laughter) Yeah, I played sports my whole life, but other than to just, you know, stay in shape a little bit, I really didn't run. And when I moved to Florida in 2001 from Minneapolis, and the following year, some friends up there said, hey, we're going to run a marathon. Why don't you come up and run with us? And I thought it sounded like a great excuse for a party.
SUMMERS: (Laughter).
BECKER: So I bought some running shoes and I trained. And I went up to Grandma's Marathon in Duluth. And it was going to be a one-and-done, but I did well. I qualified for Boston. So I said, well, I've got to do that. So I kept running, and a year later, somebody asked me, did you ever hear of the Marathon des Sables? It's an ultramarathon. I checked out the race, and it was 150-plus-mile race in the Sahara Desert in Morocco. The next year was going to be 2005, when I was turning 60, and the friend who had mentioned it to me was turning 40. And I said, why don't we give ourselves a birthday present and try this crazy thing? And we did, and I absolutely fell in love with it. The whole challenge of it, the spectacular scenery, the camaraderie especially. And I've been running ever since, so the last 20 years. And it wasn't by design. It just sort of happened.
SUMMERS: I mean, I know for many of us, running can get pretty addictive, so I do have to ask - what's the next challenge on your list?
BECKER: Oh, wow. Well, after this one, I actually don't have anything on my bucket list. Inevitably, there will be other races, but I don't actually have anything right now. I'm going to take a little time and spend it with my wife, who is the greatest supporter I could ever have, but she's not somebody who enjoys going to races. So I'm going to spend a little time with Suzanne.
SUMMERS: (Laughter) Understood. Bob Becker of Fort Lauderdale, Florida - the oldest person ever to complete the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon. Bob, thank you and congratulations.
BECKER: Thanks very much, Juana. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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