My Adventure: by Kaylee Frederick and Bob Becker
Kaylee Frederick:
A lot of people use Badwater 135 as their “end goal,” but Badwater 135 was kind of my start. Now, of course, I had qualified and had 4 years of ultra experience before Badwater, but this is the first race I really got my name out there in this crazy world of ultra running when I was merely 18.
Since then I have been able to shift my focus from just completing races to actually competing in races, but I know I can never let that take the fun out of running. Because really, no matter how old or how young we are out here, what should really drive us all is the love of the sport, proven by the young, the old, and everyone in between.
Bob Becker:
Completing the “Badwater 135” race in July made me the oldest finisher ever of this iconic event. But, it did a lot more, creating many opportunities to speak with people about aging. At 80, I simply reinforced the notion that age does not have to be a barrier to entry–no matter whether your “race” is running or not. Sharing this message may inspire a few people to pursue that thing they always wanted to do but never did. That, for me, will be the greatest accomplishment of all.
