DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, Calif.—During a rainstorm that partially obscured the light of a nearly full moon, 97 runners pushed off in desolate Death Valley with the launch of a 48-hour annual ultramarathon billed as the world’s toughest foot race—the Badwater 135.
After starting late Monday night, the men and women ranging in age from 19 to 69, and hailing from 21 countries and 26 U.S. states, are running amid an excessive heat warning. With daytime temperatures as high as 120 degrees and night heat above 100, they are traveling over roadways open to traffic and passing through places with names such as Furnace Creek, Devil’s Golf Course, and Devil’s Cornfield.
