Kaylee Frederick: Youngest Person to Complete the Badwater135

Kaylee Frederick, from Pennsylvania in the US, definitely took that on board. She began doing endurance running at the young age of 14 and, with the support of her family and community, recently became the youngest person in history to complete the Badwater135. 

Now just 18 years old, Kaylee braved the desolate Death Valley, battling soaring temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius over 135 miles of pure desert. 

Kaylee began her running career at just seven years old, quickly becoming competitive at the 5km and 10km races. However, when she turned 13, her elementary school teacher proposed doing a half-marathon. 

“I was like, no way. And she said, no, we’ll run it together, we’ll run it slow. If we have to walk, we’ll walk. We’ll have fun.” Kaylee explained, smiling. 

She slowly built up to a marathon but found it difficult to find races that would let her compete underage. Nevertheless, she continued with her passion, slowly building up her distance.