***** Latest News from Dave ******
25th August
The course for the Cape to Cape Challenge is close to being finalised. The legs will be:
| Day # | From | To | Distance for day | Total Distance |
|---|
| 1 | Cape Road, New Plymouth | Stratford | 60 km's | 60 km's |
| 2 | Stratford | Whangamomona | 63 km's | 123 km's |
| 3 | Whangamomona | Taumaranui | 88 km's | 211 km's |
| 4 | Taumaranui | Turangi | 65 km's | 276 km's |
| 5 | Turangi | Taupo | 50 km's | 326 km's |
| 6 | Taupo | Rotorua | 80 km's | 406 km's |
| 7 | Rotorua | Kawerau | 54 km's | 460 km's |
| 8 | Kawerau | Opotiki | 78 km's | 538 km's |
| 9 | Opotiki | Te Kaha | 66 km's | 604 km's |
| 10 | Te Kaha | Hicks Bay | 77 km's | 681 km's |
| 11 | Hicks Bay | East Cape | 35 km's | 716 km's |
A map of the course is on the
Course page.
18th August
The proposed route for the Cape to Cape Challenge has been posted to the
Course page.
17th August
To carry on the momentum of ManOnFire after the Badwater run, in early 2011 Dave is running 743 km's across the North Island of New Zealand from New Plymouth to East Cape.
If you would like to help Dave on the "Cape to Cape Challenge" run he's looking for sponsors for a campervan for 11 days, some help with petrol costs and help with food costs. All donations to ManOnFire go to the National Burn Centre so as with Badwater all costs incurred in the event need to be covered by
our generous partners or are covered by Dave himself.
Stay tuned to this site for updates on the Cape to Cape Challenge in the coming weeks, including the course he will be taking. We also have some other exciting news coming up soon about
TeamOnFire and how you can join us to help the National Burn Centre.
Please vote for Dave's Cape to Cape Challenge at
Steinlager Pure Futures.
7th August
Dave has written a race report, you can read it
here.
Also, on Friday Dave was interviewed on the
High Performance Hour, listen to the interview by clicking play below.
Or download the
MP3 file here.
21st July
Here are some videos from Badwater.
The winner finishing.
6:00am (Dave's) start.
Race recap part 1
Race recap part 2
18th July
Thankyou message from Dave
I would like to thank everyone who was personally involved in this campaign, from all the company sponsors of product that allowed me to perform at my best to all the donations made to this cause and to all the well wishers along the way. The energy during the event as my crew updated me with new totals and new emails was awesome and certainly made the difference when things got tough.
This is an outstanding event and one that tests both physical fitness, emotional strength and planning and strategy. If anyone is considering a goal like this I thoroughly recommend it.
It has been a privilege to be involved in the campaign with The National Burn Centre in raising awareness for burn prevention in New Zealand. It doesn't stop here, we have set ourselves a great goal and must continue to strive to assist burn victims whereever we can.
If you have any ideas about how you can further assist this cause please dont hesitate to contact me or The Burn Centre.
It's great to be home and to say I'm wrapped with the outcome would be an understatement of large proportions. I never expected to break 48 hours (and 'buckle') by as much as I did!!
I would like to thank my wife Lisa, and the rest of my crew, Jay Riley, Jon Olszyk and Barb Owen who were each absolutely outstanding in their energy and motivation to get me over the finish line.
And lastly I would like to thank Gary Nicholson of Imapping Ltd for his huge effort on website updating. I am reliably informed by many of you who followed our 'satellite' updates that it was exciting and kept you involved in the process like never before.
A truely amazing experience.
Thanks all.
Dave
15th July
The official finishing photos for Dave are
here, numbers 59, 60 and 61.
Dave recuperating and letting the blisters drain. Everyone is doing well.
14th July
About 10:50pm NZ time Congratulations Dave, his time was 45 hrs 41 minutes 29 seconds. Photos to follow soon. Huge thanks to his support crew Lisa, Barb, Jay and Jon.
About 10:45pm NZ time Any minute now.
About 10:20pm NZ time
1/2 Mile from the Finish!
28 gallons of water
30 gallons of gatorade
A LOT of electrolytes and salt tablets
Several blisters
All sunburnt
4 crew and 1 runner
5 hours sleep total
Oh, and one belt buckle.
About 9:30pm NZ time Looks like there will be cell coverage at the finish line. We'll post pictures as soon as Dave finishes in not more than an hour.
About 9:05pm NZ time Last check point passed, only 7km's to go. Hang tough guys.
About 8:50pm NZ time The satellite tracker is having trouble sending positions but they are currently at about the 210km mark. Almost at the last check point.
About 8:00pm NZ time Message from the crew. "5 miles in going up Mt. Whitney. It is unbelievably gruelling. The grade definateky taking its toll. 8 more miles to go to the finish."
About 5:30pm NZ time Did you catch Dave on the web cam? He's looking in great spirits. That was so cool. It's all uphill for the last 19kms now though.
About 4:00pm NZ time Watch the Lone Pine web camera at
http://www.badwater.com/2010web/ in about one hour and you may spot Dave and the crew go past.
About 3:10pm NZ time Message from the crew. "Dave wanted me to thank everyone here in the States and back home in New Zealand for the support and prayers."
About 3:00pm NZ time Message from the crew. "The sun has set behind the mountain range, so we have all our night gear and lighting on. 3 miles outside Lone Pine, then begin the 13 mile, 4000ft climb up Mt. Whitney. Our legs are all tired, but hoping with the sun setting the temps will drop some. Dave is so excited at the possibility of finishing before 48 hours and receiving the famous Badwater Buckle!"
About 1:45pm NZ time A video of Dave's start has been posted to
YouTube. The casual start by Dave was all part of the plan!
About 1:30pm NZ time Only one more marathon to go!
About 11:00am NZ time Message from the crew. "101 miles down, but 120'sF so it is still the hottest part of the day. 34 miles to go but the last 11 climb Mt. Whitney. Doing well, but the pavement is burning through the shoes and making the feet really uncomfortable."
About 10:00am NZ time Just past the 100 mile mark in 33 hours. 35 more miles to go. Dave's target is under 48 hours to get the Badwater belt buckle.
About 07:03am NZ time We have received an update from the crew. "We have passed the 91 mile mark, just passed the Darwin check point. We all had it rough just before Stovepipe Wells yesterday when tempertures soared to the 130's. Dave had to take a break for 15 minutes and I (Jay) suffered from a bit of hyponatremia. As the sun when down, the lights came on. Dave checked into Penepit at 0600AM and took a one hour nap, that greatly improved his focus and physical abilites.
He just passed the 91 mile mark and can see Mt. Whitney off in the distance. 44 Miles to go."
About 07:00am NZ time Sorry about the lack of tracking the last few hours, looks like it is back on now. 147kms down in 30 hours, 70kms to go.
13th July
About 11:40pm NZ time Arrived at Panamint Springs which is at 117kms so 100kms to go. Dave has been going for 22hrs 40mins. He has a 1000m climb after leaving here. Judging from other competitors cell phone coverage doesn't come back for another 20kms after here.
About 7:20pm NZ time Made it to the top of the first major climb. Downhill now for the next 20kms to Panamint Springs. We are hoping that the crew has cell phone coverage at Panamint so we can update how Dave is going.
About 1:05pm NZ time And we are off again.
About 12:50pm NZ time Taking a small break at Stovepipe Wells before the next stage which is a 1500m vertical climb over 30kms.
About 12:20pm NZ time Arrived at Stovepipe Wells (68kms) after 11 hrs 22 mins.
About 9:40am NZ time At 33 miles (53kms) and Dave is doing great. The sweat is really rolling now. It is mid 120'sF out, and the pavement is baking us all.
About 9:15am NZ time At 32 miles (51.5 kms). Exhaustingly hot at mid 120'sF. Dave is in great spirits. The crew is sunburnt, hot and taking breaks from running to run to town to jump in the pool, cool off and get some real food.
Official photos of Dave's start are
here, and
here.
About 9:00am NZ time 50kms down in 8 hours with an average speed of 6.2 kph. You can see the split times for the
entire field here or
just Dave here.
About 6:00am NZ time Dave is running well. Just passed through Furnace Creek. Quite windy today and thermometer says 120F in the shade, but it is only 10:15.
About 4:00am NZ time 11 miles down. Dave is still feeling great. The sun is out, about 112F. Having fun with all the teams.
12th July
It's 4:30am in the desert. The vans are packed, Dave is feeling great, we are all really excited to get going. Heading to the start in Badwater for the 6AM start wave. Jay.
8th July
Here is a 3 day weather forecast for Death Valley. It looks like it is going to be up to 53°C on Monday!
6th July
If you missed the story on Campbell Live on Monday you can view it here.
Thanks to everyone who donated after seeing it.
3rd July
Thankyou to everyone who has offered me support and good wishes for my upcoming run. It's incredibly rewarding to be around such positive vibes and I know they will provide me with energy.
'Campbell Live' will have a clip on the event and our charity efforts out at Middlemore Hospital Monday night (5th July) if you are interested.
There has also been an 0900 number set up if you wish to support the National Burn Centre at Middlemore Hospital.
Many of you have already been very generous.
The number is:
0900 4 BURN
or 0900 42876
It will be an automatic $20 donation which will be charged to your telephone bill.
If you wish to follow my progress we will be uploading my gps coordinates via sattelite phone to the website course map.
Go to the Course Map on the 12th July 6.00am US time (13th July 1.00am NZ time), when I start or any time after that for a couple of days.
There will also be webcast via the Badwater website. The link is
http://www.badwater.com/2010web/index.php
Thanks again
Dave
**************************
The Badwater Ultramarathon describes itself as "the world's toughest foot race". It is a 135 mile (217 km) course starting at 282 feet (85 m) below sea level in the Badwater Basin, in California's Death Valley, and ending at an elevation of 8360 feet (2548 m) at Whitney Portal, the trailhead to Mount Whitney. It takes place annually in mid-July, when the weather conditions are most extreme and temperatures over 120 °F (49 °C), even in the shade, are not uncommon. Consequently, very few people—even among ultra marathoners—are capable of finishing this gruelling race.
On July 12th, 2010 David Walker, a North Shore man with many years of endurance sport but only a couple of years of ultramarathon experience has been invited by the
Badwater race committee to compete in this years Badwater Ultramarathon. He also intends to use this international event to raise awareness and funds for burn prevention in New Zealand.
He will follow in the footsteps of only 3 other New Zealanders who have attempted and completed this race, Max Telford's trail blazing run in 1982, Kym McConnell's successful run in 2004 and more recently Lisa Tamati's New Zealand record runs in 2008 and 2009.
You will be able to see 'live' updates to the course map that will allow
all website visitors to follow his run in real time through satellite tracking.
Have a look at How can you help? to see how you can support him in his
endeavour to raise awareness for burn prevention in New Zealand and raise funds
for vital equipment for the National Burn Centre at Middlemore Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand. He would love individuals, businesses and schools to support him in this initiative. If you would like to help in any way, please email Dave at dw1@xtra.co.nz.
Thankyou for your interest.