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Click here for the Official AdventureCORPS Statement Regarding the 2014 Ban on Athletic Events Within Death Valley National Park (12-20-13) History and Impact of AdventureCORPS Events
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Death Valley Century, Ultra Century, & Double Century - with up to 300 participants, plus family, friends, volunteers, and staff - has been held twice a year (Spring / March edition and Fall / October edition) since 1990, under AdventureCORPS’ direction since 2001. Riders come from 20 or more American states and numerous foreign countries. 
Furnace Creek 508 - with up to 250 participants, plus 400 support crew members and 50 event staff - has been held annually since 1989, under AdventureCORPS’ direction since 1990. This iconic bicycle race begins near Los Angeles and finishes in Twentynine Palms after traversing Death Valley National Park and Mojave National Preserve. Participants come from 20 or more American states and a dozen countries. 
Badwater® 135 Ultramarathon - with up to 100 participants, 400 support crew members, and 50 event staff - has been held annually since 1987, under AdventureCORPS’ direction since 2000. This legendary foot race covers 135 miles non-stop from Badwater, the lowest point in North America to the end of the road on Mt. Whitney. Participants come from 20 or more American states and 20 to 25 countries. 
Additionally, AdventureCORPS events happen not in a man-made stadium, but in the real world "out there." We care deeply about the natural world for we are intrinsically linked with it and because we want to enjoy these events in their awesome natural settings for a long, long time. As such, AdventureCORPS is a member of One Percent For the Planet and, as such, donates at least 1% of total revenues (in other words, "off the top) to environmental causes. This is in addition to all the work we do on behalf of, and donations we make to, our Official Charities. In association with our ongoing environmental efforts, AdventureCORPS is a member of the Conservation Alliance, an organization of outdoor businesses whose collective contributions support grassroots environmental organizations and their efforts to protect wild places where outdoor enthusiasts recreate. Alliance funds have played a key role in protecting rivers, trails, wildlands and climbing areas throughout North America.  |
The Death Valley 300In 1989, two runners—Tom Crawford and Richard Benyo—set off to become the first people to run from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney and back…in mid-summer. They completed this first double crossing, which became known as the "Death Valley 300."
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The Longest HillJay Birmingham recounts his 1981 Death Valley crossing, the second ever successful run from Badwater to Mt. Whitney.
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The Athlete's WayThe Athlete’s Way presents a practical, motivational fitness program that incorporates brain science, positive psychology and behaviorism to transform lives from the inside out. It is the antidote to the imbalances created by living a sedentary, inactive existence. Badwater Ultramarathon veteran Christopher Bergland has created a program that uses neurobiology and behavioral models to help improve life through exercise.
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Death Valley Ultras: The Complete Crewing GuideWritten by two runners with years of experience in the Valley, this guide is a collection of everything runners and their crew need to know to crew a successful Death Valley ultra compiled into one well-organized, easy to use reference.
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The Clock Keeps TickingSharon Gayter is one of the world's top ultra runners. She could barely stagger half a mile before collapsing breathless and exhausted after a friend gave her a first pair of running shoes. She has now run 837 miles from Lands End to John O'Groats in a blistering 12 days and 16 hours and holds the Commonwealth gold medal for running 140 miles in 24 hours. She has run incredible distances all over the world. Sharon Gayter was driven to run. Running gave her freedom, to discover who she was and to make her own life on her own terms with spectacular success. En route to international acclaim she found the perfect husband. An amazing, inspirational story for runners and non-runners alike.
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To the EdgeWhen his older brother commits suicide, Kirk starts running—running to escape, running to understand, running straight into the hell of Badwater, the ultimate test of endurance equal to five consecutive marathons. From the inferno of Death Valley to the freezing summit of Mt. Whitney, alongside a group of dreamers, fanatics, and virtual running machines, Kirk will stare down his limitations and his fears on a journey inward-a journey that just might offer the redemption of his deepest and most personal loss. Johnson is an editor at the New York Times who completed the 1999 Badwater Ultramarathon and was featured in "Running on the Sun," the feature-length film about that year's race.
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Run!: 26.2 Stories of Blisters and BlissFrom the hilarious to the profound, the linked stories in Run! create an unforgettable tableau, offering a glimpse into the mind-set and motivation of an extreme athlete. Karnazes addresses the pain, perseverance, and emotional state as he pushes the edges of human achievement. The tales of the friendships he’s cultivated on his many adventures around the world warm the heart and are sure to captivate and inspire.
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Ultramarathon ManDean Karnazes is an ultramarathoner, a member of an elite group of athletes who run in 50- and 100-mile races and beyond. In Ultramarathon Man, he recounts some of the biggest races of his life and explains the passion that leads him to push his body to its limits. Although this book was released in early 2005, the year after Dean won the Badwater Ultramarathon, the chapter about Badwater recounts his DNF experience in the 1995 race.
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Born to RunBorn to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, the author sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets; in the process showing us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong.
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Burst This!Badwater Ultramarathon veteran and "real estate artist" Frank McKinney helps you wash away the worry and anxiety that financial theorists and misguided media constantly dump into the real estate marketplace. During his 25-year career, Frank has thrived through all economic conditions by taking a contrarian approach and making his own markets.
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Dead Fred, Flying Lunchboxes, and the Good Luck CircleBadwater Ultramarathon veteran Frank McKinney boldly enters young reader fiction in this fantasy novel. The story was inspired by the more than 1,250 walks to school McKinney has shared with his daughter and her friends in real life. Come along with Ppeekk and her friends into the fantastical world of Dead Fred, Flying Lunchboxes, and the Good Luck Circle.
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The TapRenowned "real estate artist" and Badwater Ultramarathon veteran Frank McKinney reveals the most important spiritual principle behind his astronomical success. He explains how God has tapped him (and taps everyone) many times in life, answering prayers and presenting life-changing opportunities. Learn how to listen and respond to your own "Tap Moments."
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The Extra MileIn The Extra Mile we watch Badwater Ultramarathon veteran Pam Reed seek balance in her life as a wife, mother, athlete, and entrepreneur. With astonishing candor she tells of her 15-year-long battle with anorexia. And she helps us to understand her passion for ultrarunning—to discover how far the human body can be pushed.
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Running HotThe Badwater Ultramarathon through California's Death Valley is one of the world's toughest races. Lisa Tamati was the first New Zealand woman to compete in the race alongside such legends of the sport as Dean Karnazes and David Goggins. But Lisa's story is so much more than that one race.
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Running on EmptyIn the fall of 2008, Badwater veteran Marshall Ulrich clocked the third fastest transcontinental crossing to date and set new records in multiple divisions. In Running on Empty, he shares the gritty backstory. Ulrich also reaches back nearly 30 years to when the death of the woman he loved drove him to begin running—and his dawning realization that he felt truly alive only when pushed to the limits.
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Official AdventureCORPS Statement Regarding the 2014 Ban on Athletic Events Within Death Valley National Park (12-20-13)
As it stands now, there will be NO sporting events of any kind held within Death Valley National Park in 2014. That includes the five events we host there (CORPScamp Death Valley; Death Valley Century, Ultra Century, and Double Century - Spring and Fall editions; Furnace Creek 508; and Badwater 135 Ultramarathon), as well as other cycling and running events such as the Ride to Cure Diabetes and Titus Canyon Marathon which are held under "special event permits" within our National Park.
Before you read further, please be assured that three of those events - CORPScamp, Badwater 135, and The 508 - WILL BE HELD in 2014 on alternate routes. Details below. AdventureCORPS will also host Badwater Salton Sea, the brand new Badwater Cape Fear, and brand new Trona 308.
This dramatic turn of events is a result of the position being taken by Death Valley National Park (DVNP), as per their website:
Effective immediately Death Valley National Park will temporarily discontinue issuance of running and bicycling event permits. Future event permits will not be considered until a thorough safety evaluation of this type of activity has been completed.
This statement on the DVNP website was the only "notification" made to us regarding this dramatic turn of events. We received no direct communication of any kind that events would not be allowed within DVNP in 2014.
This "safety review" is not being undertaken as a result of any serious incident or accident within the Park. It is not being undertaken as a result of any significant number of complaints. It is being undertaken purely under the prerogative of a few DVNP employees, most notably the Park Superintendent, Kathleen Billings, who assumed leadership of the Park in March of 2013.
Besides the immediate impact to our, and other, events held annually within Death Valley National Park, this development is particularly unsettling for several reasons, including:
- It is unprecedented to place a one-year ban on existing sporting events within a National Park without any specific incident, accident, or complaint triggering such a drastic move. It is our contention that the events should be allowed to continue while the "safety review" unfolds.
- During a recent meeting with DVNP staff, they stated "other Parks are watching us" and "we might be setting a national precedent." Even a one-year ban on events is NOT a precedent that anybody who enjoys cycling or running events within National Parks would support. There are successful and popular cycling and running events held within National Parks across America; they could all be in jeopardy now.
- This "safety review" process is essentially open-ended. DVNP staff stated that they hope to complete their analysis by the end of the March, except they "all have full-time jobs even without dealing with events and reviewing them." After the analysis is complete, they intend to "send it up the chain" to the regional office in San Francisco, and then likely from there it would be transmitted to the national office in Washington, DC. Their best prediction is that the results and recommendations of this review would not be finalized until the end of September, 2014. As the Furnace Creek Ranch will not honor our special rooming blocks for our events under such a circumstance, this review effectively rules out any events happening in 2014 since we can not host events for which there is nowhere to stay.
- The final result of this "safety review" is completely unclear. It could be the case that the DVNP staff will determine that sporting events are not "an appropriate Park use" and thus the one-year ban could become a permanent ban. Other National Parks could then use the Death Valley precedent to ban events in Parks across the country. Alternatively, while the ban may not become permanent, the "safety review" could result in onerous, expensive, and perhaps effectively impossible or untenable additional requirements placed upon all would-be event organizers in Death Valley and elsewhere. Besides, Federal guidelines approved and mandated by the NPS already exist to govern and regulate both cycling events and running events held within National Parks. Why reinvent the wheel?
The history of these extremely safe and well-run events is the most accurate predictor of their safety, their relevance to the National Park Service purpose and mission, and their appropriateness for this particular Park:
- AdventureCORPS and Chris Kostman have hosted 89 events since 1990 under DVNP special event permits without ever being refused a permit by DVNP, the Department of Transportation, or Inyo County. There have been no deaths, no car crashes, no citations issued, and only a few evacuations by ambulance after literally millions of miles covered on foot or by bike by event participants.
- These events are an incredible economic boon to Inyo County, a remote county of 10,000 square miles with just 18,000 residents which is heavily dependent upon tourism dollars. AdventureCORPS brings more overnight guests to Furnace Creek than any other organization: Approximately 1,000 athletes and an additional 1,000 support crew members, event staff, volunteers, family, and friends come to Death Valley each year because of AdventureCORPS events. For the vast majority, it was only because of the draw of well-run AdventureCORPS events that they even first ventured to the Park. Now a high percentage of the participants join these events every year without fail.
- A survey of 2012 Badwater 135 Ultramarathon runners revealed that each runner and their support crew spend a combined average of $9379 to participate in the race and about 20% make additional trips to the Death Valley / Lone Pine region each year, for a total of over $1 million dollars in annual economic impact from just this one event. Nearly half of that money is spent in the region. The Inyo County Supervisors and Lone Pine Chamber of Commerce are extremely concerned about the economic impact of even a one-year ban on sporting events. Hotels, restaurants, gas stations, gift shops, and other businesses will be directly impacted. A wider view of the ban would indicate a negative impact on car rentals, airlines, and service providers to the events such as Liberty Ambulance in Ridgecrest, Subway in Pahrump, radio and satellite phone rental providers, t-shirt screeners, bicycle jersey manufacturers, buckle and medal manufacturers, and more. The ripple effect will be enormous and reverberate across the country.
- A survey of 2012 and 2013 Badwater 135 Ultramarathon runners demonstrated they raised, remarkably, over $665,000 for charitable causes in association with their participation in the 2012 and/or 2013 Badwater races. A ban on events will hit the bottom line of Challenged Athletes Foundation, Death Valley Natural History Association, Special Operations Warrior Foundation, MS Society, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and scores of other charitable organizations which are supported by participants in these events.
- Participants in Death Valley sporting events become tireless Park Advocates because of their intimate experience of, and appreciation for, this dramatic landscape and American treasure. They tell their friends about the Park, post widely on the Internet about their experience, support the Death Valley Natural History Association, and become regular visitors. In a time of dwindling government funding for the National Park Service, our athletes are exactly the kind of people that the NPS desperately needs spending money within the Parks and extolling their critical importance to their neighbors and their House Representatives, Senators, and other government officials. Why slam the door on the best people the Parks have in their court?
For a very detailed history of AdventureCORPS events held within Death Valley National Park, along with their economic, philanthropic, and publicity impact, and much more, visit the top of this current page.
We do not claim any "right" to host these events; we acknowledge freely that it is a privilege to host special events within a National Park. We also do not deny the need for a legitimate "safety review" of the events and their potential for impact upon other Park visitors. In fact, we have proposed numerous mitigation efforts which will help ensure that the long-standing impeccable safety record of all AdventureCORPS events remains intact and is further enhanced.
Our primary concern is three-fold: first, the economic impact and associated loss of unique Death Valley National Park experiences in 2014 due to the moratorium on the events is devastating to local businesses and athletes alike; secondly, there is the high potential that this "safety review" could result in an outright ban of such events within Death Valley National Park and potentially across the entire National Park System; third, if an outright ban is not implemented, onerous, expensive, and perhaps effectively impossible or untenable additional requirements may be placed upon all would-be event organizers, creating the equivalent of a ban.
If you feel strongly about this matter and wish to have your voice heard, we encourage you to direct your letters via US Postal Service, as well as via email where noted, to to the following:
Senator Dianne Feinstein
331 Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me
General Topic: Economy
Senator Barbara Boxer
112 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
http://www.boxer.senate.gov/en/contact/policycomments.cfm
Topic: Help With a Federal Agency
Message Subject: Death Valley Bans Sports Events
Representative Col. Paul Cook (Ret.)
8th Congressional District
1222 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
https://cook.house.gov/contact/email-me
(Note: Can only accept emails through his site from residents of his district.)
Issue Topic: Economy
Sally Jewell
Secretary of the Interior
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20240
feedback@ios.doi.gov
Message Subject: Death Valley Bans Sports Events
Mr. Jon Jarvis, Director
National Park Service
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240
Ms. Christine Lehnertz, Regional Director
National Perk Service - Pacific West Division
333 Bush Street, Suite 500
San Francisco, CA 94104-2828
Even if you do not live in California, please do not hesitate to write to the California Senators and Congressman; this state's economy is largely built upon tourism and thus all our elected officials appreciate the hard-earned dollars spent here by AdventureCORPS athletes from across the continent and around the world.
Beyond that, we ask for your support and encourage you to join us for one or more of the awesome events we will be hosting in 2014. All will feature a world-class setting, an epic route, the highest AdventureCORPS standards of event production, and the sportsmanship, camaraderie, and "family reunion" atmosphere that are the hallmarks of all our events.
Feb 24-27
CORPScamp Santa Monica Mountains
Four-day cycling camp with yoga based in Westlake Village, CA
More info.
March 22
Badwater® Cape Fear
Brand new, inaugural 50km / 51-mile ultrarunning race on Bald Head Island, NC
More info.
May 2-3
Badwater® Immersion
Immerse yourself in the world of ultra running and Badwater with some of the biggest names and most insightful coaches, promoters, and professionals ever assembled. Come to learn, to have fun, to expand your horizons, to learn the secrets of longevity, health, and more in this jam-packed weekend get-away held at a southern California desert oasis. Come to Badwater Immersion on May 2-4 in Borrego Springs, CA. The program includes two morning runs through Borrego Springs, Yoga Tune Up® and Yoga For Athletes classes, a three-hour hike, and four sessions of programs on subjects such as Designing a Multi-Year Plan to Compete in a Pinnacle Event, Crewing 101, Finding a Balance in Your Life, Mental Aspects of Ultra Sports, and Conquering Your Life's Badwaters. Presenters include Marshall Ulrich, Jimmy Dean Freeman, Frank McKinney, and Laurie Kostman, plus an all-star panel of Badwater veterans for a round-table Q&A.
More info.
May 5-6
Badwater® Salton Sea
2nd annual 81-mile ultrarunning race from Salton Sea to Palomoar Mountain. All entrants enter and run together (not relay) as teams of three.
More info.
May 31- June 1
The Trona 308
Inaugural new 308-mile ultracycling race based upon the abbreviated 508 held in October, 2013 from Santa Clarita to Trona and back.
More info.
July 21-23
Badwater® 135 Ultramarathon
The new and improved 135-Mile World Championship event will feature an incredible new route based in Lone Pine, CA. This remarkable route features over 19,000 feet of elevation gain, two dramatic ascents into the Sierra Nevada, and a 15-mile dirt road trek to an authentic ghost town.
More info.
Oct 4-6
The 508
The 31st anniversary edition of "the toughest 48 hours in sport" will be held in a dramatic new venue with a world-class route. All who finish in any category will be guaranteed entry in the 2015 edition. Details will be revealed in January.
More info.
We thank you for your support and look forward to seeing you "out there" in 2014, and beyond! We wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!
Yours in sport,
Chris Kostman,
Chief Adventure Officer and Race Director
AdventureCORPS, Inc.
638 Lindero Canyon Rd #311
Oak Park, CA 91377 USA
