Training for Badwater

Braised to perfection at 180 degrees, marinated in his own juices on a bed of wooden planks for 56 minutes, Greg Bomhoff emerged from the sauna piping hot and thoroughly cooked.

He glanced down at his body, seared pink with some darker shadings along his flanks. He smiled, nodded.

"I'd say I'm about medium-rare."

Badwater Badasses

The Badwater Ultramarathon is a terrifying race - 135 miles, on pavement, through Death Valley's 116-degree

average temperatures. The gun goes off July 16 near Badwater, Calif. (282 feet below sea level), and the race ends

48 hours later on Mount Whitney (8,360 feet above sea level), more than halfway up the highest peak in the continental U.S. Here's what this year's five military runners had to say about the long road to Death Valley:

Training for Badwater in a Snowsuit

That guy you've seen running in a snowsuit down the Mission Beach boardwalk is now the winner of the hottest, most grueling footrace on the planet.

Mike Trevino, 26, of Mission Beach won the 135-mile Badwater Ultra-marathon 2001 yesterday with a time of 28 hours, 18 minutes, 12 seconds.

More Goggins

Once upon a time David Goggins weighed 280 pounds. He was a powerlifter, a Navy SEAL who never ran more than short distances, an American stationed in Iraq. It was 2005, he was thirty, and he already had a tour of duty in Afghanistan to his credit.

David Goggins: Another Ultra Sensation

2007

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- A U.S. Navy SEAL finished third out of 84 competitors from all over the world in the Kiehl's Badwater Ultramarathon July 24. Touted to be the toughest foot race in the world, the run spans 135 miles through Death Valley, Calif., during the worst of the desert's summer heat.