Badwater 135: Boulder City man finishes grueling race in Death Valley | Local Nevada

In the ultramarathon world, it is considered a kind of World Series, Super Bowl and climbing Mount Everest all in one.

Held in Death Valley in late July, the Badwater 135 has the distance and almost the temperature in its name. Competitors have 48 hours to complete the race in one of the hottest areas in the world, and Tyler Nash of Boulder City did just that.

But he admits it wasn't pretty. The 2005 Boulder City High School graduate had set himself the goal of completing the 217 kilometers in 30 hours. He missed the goal by nine hours, but still managed it.

Nash believes it was the hottest starting line in the race's history, with temperatures reaching around 49 degrees. Added to that was rain, which didn't lower temperatures but increased humidity, along with wind gusts of up to 65 km/h and thunderstorms.

“I said to myself, 'I've been dreaming of this race for 15 years and never before have I imagined it like this,'” he said of the conditions.

In an earlier interview, Nash said that a race like this is less about physical preparation and more about mental preparation.

“There's nothing like it, so you have to throw yourself in the deep end and hope you're strong enough,” he said. “About 90 percent of this race is mental. You have 100 reasons to give up and only one reason to quit.”

During the run, he was close to listing all 100 reasons to give up, but that wasn't an option.

“In my mind I just said this is perfect,” he thought sarcastically about the conditions. “Of course it happens. Let's make this race even harder. I felt like I had to finish it now because the conditions helped make this an even better story.”

In preparation for the race – if that is even possible – Nash has been putting in a lot of miles in the heat of Las Vegas, but for the last week he has been “holstered up” and doing very little.

“At that point you just say, 'The hay is in the barn, let's go,'” he said.

“A lot of preparatory work”

He gathered several family members and friends to act as his crew throughout the race. Runners must bring their own ice, water, food and a crew vehicle.

“Everyone has to be on the same page about what's going to happen and what the goals are,” he said. “There's a lot of prep work that's very stressful. After 42 miles, you can have pacers running. I had a friend fly in from England who's done a lot of 200- and 100-mile races. My cousin and Kyle (Kyle Hammond of Boulder City, also an ultramarathoner) were also on my team. My dad was the crew chief because he's done about 10 100-mile races. So it was quite a dream team. I put all my trust in them and put my life in their hands, and they didn't let me down.”

Despite his training and experienced pit crew, Nash experienced one of the worst and most difficult situations he has ever experienced in a race. After about 70 miles, he realized something was very wrong. It was about 49 degrees and as he was running down a hill, he started to experience ankle, stomach and nutritional problems. But that wasn't the worst of it.

“My head felt like scrambled eggs,” he said. “I couldn't concentrate properly and had trouble speaking. When I could, I slurred certain words and even though it was 120 degrees, I was freezing cold. I had severe heat stroke. The guy I was walking with said, 'You're not feeling well. You're swaying around in the street and you're not really there.'”

Determined to finish it

His team quickly realized something was wrong, but in order to continue the race they had to protect Nash from the paramedics who can pull a runner out of the race. They gave him water and eight salt tablets and tried to lower his body temperature.

“That's often why people drop out of the race,” Nash said. “But after about two hours, I was feeling a little better and was back on the track. I knew I was in trouble, but I couldn't understand why things were going so badly. My crew kept telling me, 'We're going to get you through this.' Looking back, that was a very scary moment for me.”

He said getting back on the track was crucial because the longer he rested, the greater the chance his race was over. His cousin, Chris Collier, had also been selected as one of the 100 competitors, and the two ran together for several miles until Nash felt better and continued the race. That's when he realized his 30-hour goal was “out the window.” But he kept pushing.

“That really messed me up,” he said, noting that he lost 10 pounds in two days. “Our motto is EMS (Emergency Medical Services) over DNF (Did Not Finish). The latter was not an option. We finished the race. It was amazing when I finished, but you don't know what your mind can put you through. I couldn't believe I got through that (heat stroke) and got out of there, but I did it.”

Once you've climbed Mount Everest, there's nothing higher. Nash himself said he doesn't know of anything that could top Badwater 135. His goal now is to be selected for the competition again.

“I need to do it faster,” he said. “I've done it and I know what to expect and that's a big advantage for me. I think the top 10 is within my reach.”

Ron Eland is editor of the Boulder City Review. Reach him at [email protected] or 702-586-9523.