The Badwater roster came out last week with 100 very happy invited runners. Nine of which are from my home state of Florida. Granted, there are 22 entrants from California ,but the "right" coast is making a strong showing. The beauty of being a part of such a close knit family is that I know most of the Florida runners, almost as well as I know some members of my own family. We all share the common bond of running for (or from) our lives, sacrificing what we must for the suffering that we crave. However, our life paths could not be more different and we represent all walks of life.The simple truth is that none of those things matter when you are out on a trail in the middle of the night. We should be so lucky to take that same blind trust into our eveyday lives. The bond of mutual suffering is unbreakable.
The Badwater list this year includes veterans and rookies, all very skilled and deserving. My guess is if you called up any one of these folks for advice,you would get a welcome answer and spot on advice. It is very rare in ultrarunning for a runner to keep their "secrets to success" a secret. Truly, once we have the tools, it becomes our burden to put those seeds of wisdom into action.
This powerhouse roster includes:
Frank McKinney: a self made man and amazing philanthropist.
Setgio Radovcic: a triumphant Serbian and Fitful developer with incredible inner and outer strength
Bradford Lombardi: a self proclaimed journeyman, surfer, boat builder and wonderful friend to all
Scott D'Angelo: a multisport talent, firefighter and Doghouse Cycling owner
Dave Carver: a multiple 100mile winner and typically stubborn Canadian
Mike Morton: a proud member of our military, WS 100 winner and possessor of amazing raw talent
David Green: a Brazil 135 finisher, fellow Jacksonville native and CEO of 110% Play Harder
Levi Rizk: a St. Petersburg native whom I do not know...yet
In a nutshell, Florida is proudly and humbly coming to Death Valley and we are coming bonded and unified. I look so forward to spending time with this part of my family and continuing to shape and forge the incredible bond we share :)
See you all in the desert sooner than later!
