Updates from the crew

Wednesday morning - 

Dave is feeling and looking a lot better this morning. Out to breakfast and proud of a great effort. He left everything on the road.

Tuesday night -

Dave and the crew are going to be getting some well deserved sleep back at the motel now so there won't be any updates until morning.

This just in from Jay:

We made a great surge to make it to mile 124, but Dave's body just wouldn't respond. A truly valiant effort that we are all proud to have witnessed. A man that pushed through so many levels of pain, and should be proud to be a New Zealander and the effort he gave the last 42 hours.

11:30 pm - I'm sorry to have to report that after 200km Dave has had to call it quits on this years attempt.  

Thank you all for your support, it helped get him to the 200k mark,

We'll try and post any news on his well being tonight.

Gazza

11:00 pm - According to the tracker Dave has passed through Lone Pine and has about 20km to go (a steep 20k though).  Still waiting for the official splits.

Thanks for all the comments, they are helping.

10:00 pm - Congratulations from the ManOnFire team to Barbara Owen who was on Dave's crew last year. She is now the 1st woman to finish Brazil 135, Arrowhead 135 in Minnesota (a week apart!), now Badwater!

Barbara Owen (53), age 53, across the line in 39:56:11!

Well done Barb.

9:30 pm - 192km down in 39.5 hours and about 6 km's from Lone Pine which should be about an hour at his current pace.  There has been intermittent video from Lone Pine at the official Badwter site so check that out soon.

After being ahead of last years time by over an hour Dave has slowed down to about the same time coming into Lone Pine.  The comments and support he is getting through this site is really helping keeping him moving so please keep them coming.  

Together we can get him there.

9:00 pm 

Seeing the lights of Lone Pine getting brighter in the distance.

5:30 pm - "In Keeler! 12 Miles to Lone Pine, moving along at a much better pace."

Thanks for the messages everyone.

4:20 pm - We have just received this from Jay:

"Past 100 miles. Dave's in a lot of pain. Everything hurts, and now that we are nearing Owen's Lake Bed, its really warming up."

Please post some words of encouragement for Dave below and we'll get them through to him, or even better make a donation here.

3:00 pm - Dave has just passed the 100 mile mark in 33hrs.  Just 35 miles to go! Plus a little matter of climbing Mt Whitney.

1:00 pm - Passing the 152km mark after 31hrs, on the way to Lone Pine.  We received the following updates from Jay about 4hrs ago:

"Last night was long and rough. Dave pulled a muscle, and Joselyn ended up being the MVP by getting it cleared up enough to continue. Very rough section just before Panamint again this year. Dave got an hour rest and is on the road, about 50 miles from the finish. Feeling good now. The crew is all tired, sore and in a daze at times, but it will pass with the heat coming back with the sun coming up."

"It got down to 85F last night going through Town Pass. It was funny to see us all bundled up in fleece. Bit different than the 120F during the day."

 

Congratulations to Oswaldo Lopez, the 2011 Badwater Champion with a time of 23:41:40.

3:46 am - Arrival at Panamint Springs, 72.3 miles in 21:46. Still about an hour up on last year.  No update from the crew, we might have to wait till Lone Pine for one.

1:30 am - Dave has covered 106km in 19hrs 30min and is within 10km of Panamint Springs.  Hopefully the crew will have internet connection from there and can read your kind comments and post an update themselves.  (Please note that I have to approve all comments before they show up on the site, to avoid spam, so don't be concerned if they don't show up straight away. Gazza.)   

8:00 pm - Looks like the tracker was right, Dave is making awesome progress out there.  The official site has him at Stovepipe Wells at 3:00pm for an elapsed time of 9 hrs.  This is over 2 hours ahead of last year.  At 8:00pm he is at 85km (53 miles) after 14hrs of running.  He is now on the first major climb heading to Panamint Springs at 116km (72.3 miles).

3:30 pm - According to the satellite tracker Dave went through Stovepipe Wells (41.9 miles, 67.4km) at 3:30pm (elapsed time 9:30) but his split isn't showing up on the official site yet.  Last year his elapsed time was 11:22 here, so either the tracker is right and he is doing awesome or something strange is happening with the tracker.  We'll have to wait for more info to see which.  Gazza. 

11:50 am - Pretty warm now. Low 120's and still windy. Slowed Dave down to a walk and hopefully he will continue to keep moving well into Stovepipe Wells. Guess if it was easy, it wouldn't be Badwater.

9:36 am - Dave arrived at Furnace Creek, which is at 17. miles (28km), in a time of 3:36.  This is 35mins faster than last year. Running strong. Luca is going out to pace for a while. Still windy and the heat is really starting to build.

6:00 am - Dave is underway and we are receiving the tracking data now.  Positions should update every ten minutes.  Hit the Update Positions button on the map to refresh Dave's location.

4:10 am - The stars are still out at 410AM here in Death Valley (they are breathtaking here), but we are finishing our packing and headed down the road to Badwater for our 6AM start. Dave feels great and ready to get started.