Local conquers Badwater

It's the world's toughest foot race -- 135 miles through Death Valley in July, when the temperature reaches 125 degrees. The runners competing in the Adventurecorps Badwater Ultramarathon will climb a combined 13,000 feet and race without sleep for two days. They have only 60 hours to complete the 135-mile course -- 48 if they want to win a coveted belt buckle.

Molly Sheridan of Las Vegas participated in the ultramarathon in July. The endurance race is akin to the Super Bowl for ultrarunners.

Sheridan, 52, has run several ultramarathons and completed the Marathon des Sables, a 151-mile trek across the Sahara Desert in Morocco.

"I feel like Badwater is the Olympics. It's the premier race," Sheridan said.

Most runners take nearly a decade to build the endurance to attempt Badwater, according to race director Chris Kostman. Sheridan entered the race after four years of serious running.

Kostman has been the race director the past decade. The race began in 1977, when a group of men decided to run from Badwater (282 feet below sea level) to the trailhead of Mount Whitney Summit (8,360 feet above sea level).

Under Kostman's direction, the event has become popular. Only 90 applicants from a pool of hundreds were invited to the 2009 race.

"The fact that it's on a road, which not only is harder than a trail, but in Death Valley in July, it's radiating 100 to 200 degrees up onto the legs and lower body of the runners. And so it's sort of like being in a slow-cooking roaster," Kostman said.

Sheridan, supported by her six-member crew, began the race at 6 a.m. July 13. She averaged less than three miles an hour, finishing 45 hours and 131 miles later on the slope of Mount Whitney. The race was shortened for some runners because of a forest fire.

She climbed three mountain ranges, running more than 20 hours in temperatures above 120 degrees in the day and 105 at night. She achieved her goal and became a member of an elite club of athletes.