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A Jersey-based personal trainer has become both the first Irishwoman and Channel Islander to complete one of the world’s “top races”, which saw her cover three mountain ranges in 50⁰C heat.
The Badwater 135 is an ultra-marathon covering 135 miles of non-stop foot racing from Death Valley, the hottest and driest place in North America, right up to Whitney Portal.
Although the Badwater 135 is renowned as one of the world's toughest foot races, Leanne Rive is no stranger to a challenge, having completed "tons of half-marathons and marathons" and as well as more extreme ultra-marathons.
In the last decade, she has completed over 40 races including the Costwold Century, where she finished as third lady, to Tor Des Geantes, and the Spartathalon Greece three years ago, which saw her scoop tenth lady in a race spanning Athens to Sparta.
Pictured: Leanne accompanied at the Badwater 135 by her friend and crew member, Beth Rainbow.
Despite her impressive running history, Leanne explained that the Badwater Committee Board are highly "selective". There is a thorough process where they pick 100 people - 50 who have done it before, and 50 rookies, with each runner having to hand in a CV and prove they've completed similar feats, to prove their ability.
In 2020, Leanne was one of the 100 selected, but covid put a halt to plans. The race finally returned for 2022 from 12 to 14 July, but Leanne had been training months in advance of this.
She said: "I think my training went very well. My coach Mimi Anderson has completed Badwater a few times and even did the double (out and back!) she gave me the best advice and training plan.
"I bought a second-hand dry sauna which helped tremendously to heat-train, and excellent medical experts here on Jersey osteopath Daniel Thomas , physiotherapist Adam Fosse and sports doctor Dr Garnett kept me performing well through training."
Pictured: Leanne described it as an "honour" to take part in this "iconic race".
Despite all her training, Leanne described the experience of actually running the Badwater 135 as "beyond expectations".
She said: "The Badwater 135 claims to be 'the toughest foot race in the world' and, in my opinion, it's true. Even after years of reading books and watching videos about it, it was more than I imagined!
"It's such an iconic race that only 100 people get to do a year, so it was an honour to be selected to race it."
Leanne described the 135 mile route: "The course is hard; there are three big climbs. Even though you start below sea level, you finish at the portal of Mount Whitney which is an overall elevation is 4450 meters.
"I loved the first 50 miles before the sun came up. The encouragement from other crews and competitors is amazing. Everyone wants everyone to get to the finish.
"The finish is epic, the race organisers give everyone their moment at the top, running in with their crew, it was so special!"
Pictured: Leanne's favourite moment was the first 50 miles before the sun came up.
However, there were unsurprisingly tough moments along the way. "Keeping food down after the first night became tricky," Leanne admitted.
She said: "At the top of the first climb, things started to change and it was a bit of a roller coaster but that’s part of ultra-marathons! Ultras are about pulling yourself through the rough bits, everyone had them!"
The heat proved the most challenging aspect for Leanne, with temperature reaching 53 degrees in Panamint Springs. "I know how Dracula feels in the sunlight!" she laughed.
She attributed her success in completing the race to her "amazing" four-person crew: Marinsik Badwater, Beth Rainbow, Doug Strachan, and Paul Burrows.
She said: "You cannot do this race without crew! I was lucky to have four brilliant team players who replenished my bottles every couple of miles, gave me ice bandanas, fed me, got my pop-up tent out for whatever essential needs and changed things if the plan wasn’t working.
Pictured: Leanne and her crew enjoying the views before the race began.
"Most importantly they willed me to the finish and didn’t ever doubt me."
As well as the hardest race she's ever done, the Badwater 135 was also Leanne's most expensive with five people to accommodate. The car hire and petrol alone came to over £4,500, with the team minivan covering over 3,000 miles.
However, funding was a team effort too. Leanne said: "I was very fortunate to get sponsorship from IQEQ, True Food nutrition, ITHSCI , I had a quiz night and a raffle, with many local companies been very generous with gifting prizes for my raffle. I also had mile sponsorship options and some very kind donations from some very special friends."
Leanne now has a few 100 mile races coming up, but has her sights set on the end of the year when she will be trying to qualify to run another iconic race -- The Western States 100, which will take place in June 2023.
For other aspiring runners, she has a few words of encouragement: "Start with small goals and you will never know what you end up doing - dreams do come true.
"And don’t forget to stretch!"
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