Greetings, fellow athlete-adventurers!
In this Issue:
- Quote for the Day
- The Road to Badwater: Arthur Webb
- The Road to Badwater: Todd Baum
- ZombieRunner.com Sponsors Badwater
- World's Most Grueling Sports Events
- Bikes Help Commuters Get Around Gas Prices
- And Now For Something Completely Different
QUOTE FOR THE DAY
"Death Valley is desert and mountains laid bare and dissected. This is serious wilderness, 3.4 million acres' worth (the largest patch in the lower 48), and the geography is ferociously rough: from the shimmering, superheated salt pan to the gashed and broken mountain ranges that surround it. Even the name sounds harsh. But trips here don't have to be. If you play it smart and plan your visit right - keeping in mind distances and the inherent challenge of the landscape - you will come away with a lasting taste of America at its most extreme." - Robert Earle Howells, National Geographic Adventure, June / July 2008
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THE ROAD TO BADWATER: ARTHUR WEBB
This article by Bob Padecky is one of the best articles ever written about a Badwater runner and that is entirely fitting: Arthur Webb, 66, of Santa Rosa, CA, a nine-time official finisher of the world's toughest foot race, is one of the best human beings, and athletes, to ever toe the line of the Badwater Ultramarathon.
So take a few minutes and
read some quality writing about a quality human being:
If you're inspired, here is Arthur's "
Heat Training in the Sauna" article.
Here is Arthur's "
Badwater and Extreme Event Survival" article.
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THE ROAD TO BADWATER: TODD BAUM
Check out a
multitude of links about Badwater veteran Todd Baum of upstate New York.
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ZOMBIERUNNER.COM, OFFICIAL HOSTS OF THE BADWATER STORE, AND MORE
We are pleased to recognize
ZombieRunner.com as an Official Sponsor of the Badwater Ultramarathon. Shop ZombieRunner.com and you will find the best stuff for ultra runners, marathoners, trail runners, adventure racers, hikers and other people who love the outdoors. Heck, even if you never run or hike, you will still find a lot of great, useful, and unique stuff on their site!
Through their interaction with the running community and through their own extensive experiences as athletes and race volunteers, owners Don Lundell and Gillian Robinson have learned about training, racing, injury prevention and treatment, nutrition, and more. You can find Don and Gillian at races around Northern California and beyond -- running, taking photographs, volunteering, or in the ZombieRunner booth.
Don and Gillian are both veteran finishers of the Badwater Ultramarathon. They are great athletes and great people. They love running and they love Badwater. The past two years they have been out on the race course to provide foot care to the runners, making them two of the very most popular people out there. This year they will be back to offer that wonderful service, while also offering a Badwater Store within their ZombieRunner online store.
Don and Gillian are offering a 10% discount on orders placed until the end of August. Enter "BW08" as the discount code.
Click here now.
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FORBES.COM: WORLD'S MOST GRUELING SPORTS EVENTS
No such article would be complete without the world's toughest foot race right at or near the top.
Here is Forbes.com's latest take on the subject.
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BIKES HELP COMMUTERS GET AROUND GAS PRICES
Click here for the article by Leslie Earnest in the Los Angeles Times on July 8, 2008.
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AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
Mark your calendar:
On Friday, April 13, 2029 the asteroid Apophis (named after the Egyptian god of darkness and death), large enough to fill the Rose Bowl, will fly so close to Earth that it will dip below the altitude of our communication satellites. If the trajectory of Apophis happens to pass within a narrow ranges of altitudes called the "keyhole," then Earth's gravity will influence the asteroid enough to guarantee that upon its return to Earth 7 years later in 2036, it will slam into the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii. The resultant tsunami will wipe out the entire west coast of North America, bury Hawaii, and devastate all land masses along the Pacific Rim.
If Apophis misses the "keyhole" altitude, then we have nothing to worry about in 2036.
Have a nice day!
- - Neil deGrasse Tyson, Death by Black Hole, 2007
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Thanks for your support and participation, everyone! We look forward to seeing you out there soon! (The Badwater Ultramarathon starts Monday, so tune into
www.badwater.com for the webcast early next week!)
Yours in sport,
Chris Kostman
Chief Adventure Officer and Race Director
http://www.adventurecorps.com
http://www.the508.com
http://www.badwater.com
http://www.XO-1.org
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