The BADWATER® ultra running experience returns to Imperial and San Diego Counties with their tenth edition of the famous Badwater Salton Sea race.
AdventureCORPS®, Inc., the organisers of the world-famous Badwater® 135 Ultramarathon from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney in July, hosts the Badwater® Salton Sea 81-Mile Ultramarathon annually in late April.
This year the Badwater Salton Sea will take place on April 29th and 30th, which will see competitors have only 28 hours to traverse 81 miles across Imperial and San Diego Counties in Southern California.
The event will challenge teams of two or three runners, who will run together for the duration, to tackle an incredible route in some of California’s deserts and mountains. Runners will begin at 6:30 am on the shore of Salton Sea and finish high atop Palomar Mountain.
The ‘post-apocalyptic’ starting point at the Salton Sea in Salton City, California, sits at n elevation of 234 feet below sea level. Competitors will journey across the Anza-Borrego Desert, then two mountain ranges to its finish line atop Palomar Mountain, the almost tallest mountain in San Diego County.
Racers will face not only desert but incredible conditions, as the Salton Sea is expected to be around 37 degrees Celsius.
The finish line, in comparison, sits at an elevation of 5500ft with a total cumulative elevation gain of over 9000 feet along the route.
This year, the Badwater Salton Sea reports 76 runners, comprising 36 teams competing. They have representation from 17 US states and six other nationalities, including Armenia, Canada, Kenya, Mongolia, the Philippines and the United Kingdom.
There are 37 women and 39 men, 17 veterans and 59 rookies. The age range is from 18 (Kaylee Frederick of Johnstown, PA) to 70 (Peter Kline of Bellevue, WA.
2023 Competitors
BADWATER ULTRA CUP
Badwater Salton Sea is a member of the BADWATER® ULTRA CUP. This three-event series includes Badwater Cape Fear in North Carolina in March and the Badwater 135 from California’s Death Valley to Mt. Whitney in July. Those runners who complete all three events in the same calendar year are featured on the Badwater website and in BADWATER Magazine. This year, 15 runners are competing in the 2023 Badwater Ultra Cup.
