Ultrarunner runs 105 miles through Death Valley in the hottest month ever

This essay is based on a conversation with Ray Zahab, a 55-year-old Canadian explorer and ultra-distance runner who has run nearly 20,000 kilometers through the most extreme environments on Earth, from the Arctic to the Sahara. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.

July was the hottest month in the history of Death Valley National Park. That month I also walked over 100 miles through the scorching desert heat.

During my 53.5-hour journey from the northern edge of Death Valley in the mountains down to Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America, I had to endure daily temperatures of over 49 degrees Celsius.

I was well prepared from numerous adventures in Death Valley and heeded the National Park Service's warnings of “extreme summer heat” by meeting with park rangers in advance and letting them know my plans.

I knew the trip would push my body to its limits, as I would have to navigate almost entirely alone and off-road through the mountains, sand dunes, salt flats and ankle-twisting, rock-strewn riverbeds of Death Valley.

It wasn't my first time walking through Death Valley, but this trip was more personal. I was diagnosed with a type of blood cancer a few years ago, and knowing that I could go out and do something like this after my chemotherapy was encouraging.

Sometimes I doubted I could do it, and sometimes I knew I needed a break. That's what it was like running through California's Death Valley in the hottest month on record.