El Dorado runner completes ‘world’s toughest foot race’

Eight years ago George Myers literally ran away from alcoholism, taking up distance running to help him leave behind the lowest parts of his life.

“My mom passed away in 2006, then I lost my youngest brother in 2007 and went through a period of alcoholism,” Myers said. “In 2008 I got some help and worked on getting sober. Running became a big part of that. It gave me something to focus on.”

Last week the El Dorado man’s dedication to running brought him to not only one of the highest points of his life, but to basically the grand accomplishment of most serious distance runners in the world when he completed the Badwater 135 ultramarathon. The course stretches for 135 miles and is billed as “the world’s toughest foot race.”

“I went there with just the goal of beating the course,” said Myers, 44. “The whole experience now is so surreal, racing in the world’s toughest race, against all those incredible athletes from all over the world. It just blew away all of my expectations.”

Myers placed ninth in a field of 97 world-class runners invited from 19 nations. He finished all 135 miles in 28 hours, 18 minutes.

The courses included long stretches with 120 degree heat through California’s Death Valley, and ended at the 8,300 foot mark on Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the continental U.S.

Just to qualify for an invitation, then to get offered one of the places reserved for the best in the world, is one of the highest goals in ultramarathons (any marathon longer than 26.2 miles). To complete the race is considered the accomplishment of a lifetime.

Myers had to complete three 100-mile races within about two years to be considered eligible, and then go through an application process. Race personnel select the 97 applicants they thought had the best chance of finishing the race.

Myers first learned of the race when “60 Minutes” documented the event’s extreme difficulty. In 2013 he accompanied and assisted a friend who ran the race. When he was accepted this year Myers said he became the third Kansan to qualify for the race that began in 1987.

The event’s press release said the race begins at about 280 feet below sea level in Death Valley and includes three mountain ranges. The cumulative vertical ascent from those mountains is about 14,600 feet.

To prepare for the race Myers had been running 95 to 100 miles per week, and spending time in a dry sauna trying to get his body used to such heat. He took a crew of four to assist him, including his fiance Erin-Kate Morrow, and Amy Seeber, a physician from El Dorado. They arrived three days before the event that began Monday.

The race began at 11 p.m. so much of the running was after dark. His team kept him in food, water, electrolytes and offered encouragement. He sat down once to change shoes, and again to work the tightness out of his legs.

Myers estimates he was only sitting a total of about five minutes. The rest of the time he was on the move. Myers alternated between a jog in most areas, and walking the steepest portions.

Sleep, he said, was his biggest enemy.

“The toughest part, for me, was the second night probably from about 10 p.m. to midnight, miles 110 to 120,” he said. “I really wanted to just take a nap.”

The winning time was just under 22 hours, a course record set by Nebraskan Pete Kostelnick who also won the race in 2015. Eighty-four runners finished the race. Myers wouldn’t mind trying the run again.

“Right now I’m just living on the high of the race,” he said, shortly after flying back to Wichita on Friday. “I think I now know a lot more about how to run it. I would like to do it again, and see if I can have another chance at a better time.”

He admits that he is addicted to running, but credits it for turning his life around. Within every long run he finds a feeling similar to when he became sober eight years ago.

“I really enjoy that feeling of coming through, and beating that feeling of wanting to quit, and overcoming that suffering,” he said. “Things are so much better now.”

This story was originally published July 23, 2016 at 2:40 PM with the headline "El Dorado runner completes ‘world’s toughest foot race’."