80 Year Old Runner Completes World's Toughest Foot Race

In a truly remarkable achievement, octogenarian Bob Becker became one of just 93 people to complete the brutal 135 mile ultra-marathon course this year.

Known as the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, the course begins 282ft below sea level in California’s hellishly hot Death Valley and climbs to 8,360ft at the trailhead to Mt Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States. In the course of the race, which has taken place each July since the 1980s, contestants can face temperatures of more than 120F (49C). "This one-of-a-kind foot race offers the promise of a supremely personal achievement along with international accolades for those who rise to the occasion," says the official Badwater website.

Becker, from Florida, is no stranger to setting records on the Badwater 135 course. In 2015, at the age of 70, he became the oldest person to complete the 'Badwater Double' - turning around to run back to the race’s beginning after completing the official 135 mile event. He had previously completed the Badwater 135 in 2008 and 2014.

Contestants must finish the Blackwater 135 in 48 hours. In 2022, Becker fell just 17 minutes short of that cutoff. This year, he completed the race with about three hours to spare.

“It was just the most amazing crew I’ve ever had in 20 years of doing this stuff,” Becker told GearJunkie. “It was fabulous and I’m just so glad I was able to make the finish line this time.”

Hiking or running through triple-digit temperatures isn’t just difficult, it’s a life-threatening activity. That’s why the Badwater 135 includes support vehicles carrying supplies for runners as they race through the desert. The fastest finisher this year was Norwegian runner Simen Holvik, who crushed the course in about 21 hours, 48 minutes - which is about 15 minutes under the current Badwater record-holder, Japan’s Yoshihiko Ishikawa.

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