The Edge of Destruction – Rhys Jenkins, Taking on Badwater 135

So often, we celebrate athletes’ successes worldwide, awarding deserved recognition for the incredible journeys that athletes and ultrarunners succeed in achieving. However, many runners may have to pull out of a race and not finish (DNF).

Rhys Jenkins is an ultra-marathon runner from Wales and a race director for Pegasus Ultrarunning and the Wildhorse 200 race series. He has completed the Badwater Ultramarathon several times (officially and unofficially), stating that the challenge has a special place in his heart.

He recently discussed his DNF at The Badwater Ultramarathon 2022, in which everything that could go wrong did go wrong and ended in dramatic circumstances that changed his perspective on life.

“You do put a lot of work into actually making it to the start line. You find breathing hard for the first few miles because the tarmac gets hot. In a way, it’s a difficult race but also very fulfilling, and it’s beautiful.”

The Badwater Ultramarathon is a 135-mile race at the Badwater Basin located in California’s Death Valley. The race is notorious for being one of the toughest foot races in the world; it is 232 feet below sea level and ends with an elevation of nearly 9000 feet. All the while battling an intense 50-degree celsius heat.