The Book-a-Week Project, Week 19

To the Edge: A Man, Death Valley, and the Mystery of Endurance Kirk Johnson

Badwater is probably the most infamous legitimate ultramarathon in the United States. It starts in Death Valley, at the lowest point in the United States, and proceeds 135 miles to the portal of Mt. Whitney. In early years, it ran to the summit of that mountain, but regulatory complications make that impossible now. Some competitors head to the summit on their own, but the race officially ends at the portal.

It is nonetheless a motherfucker. Aside from the distance, the temperatures hover around 130 degrees in the shade. Since the entire race is run on asphalt with no protection from the sun except for nightfall, the perceived temperature is closer to 200 during the day.

To run the course today, entrants must have at least one 100-mile race under their belt, but typically they're more seasoned, running multiple such races in the same year. In 2000, when Kirk Johnson ran, requirements were apparently more relaxed. He had two 50-milers and a few marathons on his resume, nothing more.

He was writing about the race for the New York Times and initially planned to drop out partway through, but later decided to attempt the whole course. Much of the book is weighed down by explorations of the reasons for his older brother's suicide and fears of marital discord. Once the race starts, his story thankfully veers away from his misgivings and feelings of inadequacy to the emotional breakdown, hallucinations, and psychedelic epiphanies that are the interesting part of Badwater.

It's a treat to finally hear about this race from someone who can write. The only other accounts I've read are from Pam Reed, in The Extra Mile: One Woman's Personal Journey to Ultra-Running Greatness, and Dean Karnazes, in Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner. Reed and Karnazes are both far more accomplished runners than Johnson -- both have won the race multiple times -- but their books are packed with flaws.

The primary flaw of The Extra Mile is that it was written at all. Reed writes like a seventh-grader and even in her own words comes across as an immensely unlikable asshole. Her anorexia and inability to be faithful to her husband keep popping up throughout the book. (What? A narcissistic, manipulative anorexic? Who'd have thought?)

Karnazes is a marketer and his life is devoted to marketing himself. Ultramarathon Man makes clear that he would happily drop his running career and family if he could trade them for a clone of himself with which he could spend the rest of his life dancing, romancing, and fucking, fucking, fucking. After a while, his book becomes a series of brags told by a self-aggrandizing frat boy who's cornered you at a party you didn't want to go to in the first place.

If Badwater sounds interesting, the best place to start is Running on the Sun, a documentary that was filmed in 2000, the same year Johnson ran the race. It's surprisingly easy to find.

Next: Sadly, the only thing by George Saunders I haven't yet read: In Persuasion Nation.