That character grinning like a man possessed, above, is Glenn Sutton. He's rubbing his hands to stave off the chill of the early morning on the Karetai Track. He's just spent a few hours running along trails around the hills of Otago Peninsula and now the sun is up, it's time for him to head to work.
That's just what you do when you've been accepted to compete in a race that is touted as "the world's toughest foot race". The Badwater Ultramarathon pits 100 of the world's toughest athletes—runners, triathletes, adventure racers, and mountaineers—against each other and the elements. The race spans 217km of terrain with intense heat sweeping across dry lakes around Lone Pine, California, and 5800m of climbing with two ascents into the Sierra Nevada mountains. This is cactus and desert country at its wildest.
Glenn is counting down the weeks till July.
"It's a desert run on tarseal for 217km and the temperatures can soar to 50°C-plus," Glenn offers with a grin.
You can't just enter Badwater – you have to be proven at 160km-plus races to be able to apply to be selected. Of the 80 males and 20 females selected for the 100 spots there are 69 Americans and 31 foreigners. Glenn is the only New Zealander for 2014.
"I'd been looking to do an adventure that would push me quite hard and this one is the key," the 40-year-old smiles. "The temperature will be the big thing. You have to run on the whiteline, because the black tarseal heats up so much and the heat bouncing off the road becomes too hot. You can actually fry an egg on the road surface."
Hydration is going to be paramount to Glenn's race and so he has garnered the support from his boss at Stevenson and Williams, Rob Cunningham, and school friends Scott Wilson and Mark Murdoch who will travel with him to California to keep him fed, hydrated and sane throughout the ordeal. Glenn expects the race will take him between 30 and 35 hours. Competitors are given 48 hours to complete the event.
"Heat will be the major factor," he considers. "I've made a heatbox at home – its got a treadmill, a heater, some glass windows and I'm starting to use that. I can crank it up to 40°C and get used to running in that heat and sucking in that hot air. I'm also exploring Bikram yoga, but apart from that you're limited to be able to train in the heat in Dunedin – especially coming into winter. But it just adds to the challenge for me."
Glenn has also identified the best physical endurance minds at the university: fellow adventure athlete Jim Cotter and Dave Gerrard, who specialises in hydration and nutrition.
"I'd like to do well in the event – I've put a lot of time and money into this event and I'm not going over there for a bit of sightseeing – I'm taking it very seriously," he shares. "I'm doing my homework to be as best prepared as I can."
Glenn is no slouch in ultra distance racing – the weekend before last he finished second in the Northburn 100 160km race, a race he won in 2012 and has finished 4th and 6th previously. As part of his training he ran The Kepler twice in December 2013 although didn't complete the journey due to his running buddy needing to turn back about 10km short.
He knows that it is those dark places that can bring even the most elite athlete undone.
"You have to push through and think of the things that really touch you – your friends and family," he explains. "I always put my girls' initials on my forearm whenever I run a distance over 42km. It's those small things that help you bounce out the otherside. I just tell myself to keep moving forward and to put one foot in front of the other."
"You're always going to have more bad patches than good patches," Glenn concedes.
The end of the race was a bit of a blur Glenn said.
"You have to get food and liquid into you quickly – you've been running around for 24 hours plus and bang! You stop. That's a bit of a shock to the system."
Glenn said he was lucky because he found it easy to eat during the race. He would eat gels, Moro bars and real food like fruitcake, honey sandwiches, potatoes and soup if it was available. That food intake gave Glenn a real advantage.
He said he was very fortunate to have good people behind his running.
"I have complete suppport from my wife Julia, and my three girls Emily, Ruby and Lucy and then my family, mates and work."
And you get the feeling that it is his family that underpins his philosophy:
"Follow your dreams – we all have them and who said you can't do these things. Life is what you make of it."
So how do you wind up dreaming of putting yourself through the emotional rollercoaster of endurance racing?
"For some weird reason 100km-plus is my cup of tea at the moment," he laughs. "I tell people it's a phase I'm going through – but I really enjoy it – I wouldn't do it if I didn't."
The 37th anniversary edition of the Badwater Ultramarathon will be held July 21-23, 2014, based out of Lone Pine in California. Follow Glenn's progress here.
See you at the beach ...
Derek
PS All Blacks vs England tickets go on sale tomorrow for Waitaki South – get in quick here.
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