Renowned ultra-distance runner Lisa Smith-Batchen finished a 584 mile run in California’s Death Valley last week, becoming the first female ultramarathoner in the world to cross the famed Badwater-to-Mt. Whitney course four times back-to-back in an effort to fundraise for cleaner, healthier water across the world.
The run lasted a total of 14 days, with temperatures reaching as high as 127 degrees Fahrenheit. Smith-Batchen was forced to deal with prolonged bouts of wind and sand storms as well as flooding, thunder and lightning. Smith-Batchen and her support crew began the Badwater4GoodWater run on July 1st. The run included not only two out-and back circuits of the traditional Badwater-to-Mt. Whitney course, which is 135 miles, but also two trips to the summit of Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the Continental United Sates at 14,505 feet and an estimated 96,000 feet of elevation change.
Portions of the proceeds from Smith-Batchen’s fundraising from the run will go to Waterkeeper Alliance, a global movement of on-the-water advocates who patrol and protect over 1.5 million square miles of rivers, streams and coastlines across the world.
“There have been very few moments in my running career that compare to the difficulty and anguish of this run,” said Smith-Batchen. “But there is also very little that compares to the elation and sense of accomplishment. During the most difficult moments, I reminded myself of my reliance on clean drinking water and thought about others who lack even basic access to good water.”
“We are amazed by Lisa’s endurance and humbled by her commitment to ensuring access to clean water across the globe,” said Marc Yaggi, Executive Director of Waterkeeper Alliance. “While there are scarcely any people capable of this type of athletic achievement, we’re all capable of doing just a little more to help those in need of clean water.”
Smith-Batchen, an Idaho resident and accomplished runner, has previously completed the official Badwater Ultramarathon nine times and won the race twice. In 2010, Smith-Batchen completed a tour called “Running Hope through America,” in which she ran 2,500 miles through the United States, running 50 miles in all 50 states in two months to raise money for orphans.
Donations can still be made to Waterkeeper Alliance and the Badwater4GoodWater project at Badwater4GoodWater.
For photos from Smith-Batchen and her crew during the run, please visit Badwater4GoodWater on Facebook.
For more information about Lisa Smith-Batchen, visit http://www.dreamchaserevents.com/About-Us/Lisa-Smith-Batchen/.
About WATERKEEPER® Alliance
Waterkeeper Alliance is a global movement uniting more than 200 Waterkeeper organizations and focusing citizen advocacy on the issues that affect our waterways, from pollution to climate change. Waterkeepers patrol and protect more than 1.5 million square miles of rivers, streams and coastlines in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. Waterkeeper Alliance was founded in 1999 by veteran Waterkeepers and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to insure our global waterways are swimmable, drinkable and fishable. Learn more at: http://www.waterkeeper.org or follow @Waterkeeper on Twitter and Facebook.