BADWATER 135 2026 PREVIEW: FORMER CHAMPIONS RETURN TO DEATH VALLEY

An invitational field of 98 runners will line up at Badwater Basin on July 27 for the 135-mile crossing to Whitney Portal, and neither athlete who won in 2025 is entered.

Simen Holvik, the Norwegian who reclaimed the men's title in 21:47:45 last July, is not on the roster. Neither is Marisa Lizak, the American who won the women's race in 25:07:31. Both divisions open up as a result.

The 2026 field includes 70 men and 28 women from 21 countries. Sixty-five of the 98 starters are attempting the race for the first time, a rookie share that reflects the event's long waiting list and strict qualifying standards.

Former champions return

The field still carries plenty of history. Ashley Paulson is back after sitting out the 2024 and 2025 editions. The runner from St. George, Utah, holds the women's course record at 21:44:35, set in 2023, the year she also won the race outright.

Iván Penalba Lopez returns after finishing second overall in 2025. The Spaniard from Valencia was the fastest man not named Holvik last July and starts among the favorites this time.

Pete Kostelnick is entered again after taking third in 2025. He won back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016 and knows the course as well as anyone in the field.

Harvey Lewis rounds out the group of past winners. The Cincinnati teacher won in 2014 and 2021 and ranks among the most frequent finishers in race history. He also set the backyard ultra world record in 2023, running for 108 straight hours.

The race director places the fastest entrants in the final wave. Paulson, Penalba, Kostelnick and Lewis are all assigned to the 10 p.m. start.

The course

The route climbs from Badwater Basin, 280 feet below sea level and the lowest point in North America, to Whitney Portal at 8,300 feet. It crosses three mountain ranges and gains 14,600 feet of cumulative elevation across 135 miles of open road.

Heat defines the race. Daytime temperatures in Death Valley routinely pass 120 degrees in late July, and the asphalt radiates well into the night. Last year the temperature reached 117 degrees on the second day. Runners who want the full context can read the race's history, from Al Arnold's first solo crossing to the modern invitational.

Every runner races with a support crew that leapfrogs ahead by vehicle, handing off water, ice and food along the route. No aid stations exist between the start and the finish, so a crew failure can end a race as fast as the heat.

Organizers start the field in three waves, at 8, 9 and 10 p.m. on July 27, to spread runners across the hottest stretch of highway. Split times are combined so that all waves compete for the same overall standings.

What to watch

Yoshihiko Ishikawa's men's course record of 21:33:01, set in 2019, has stood for seven years. Paulson's women's mark sits 88 seconds behind it. With both defending champions absent, the front of the 2026 race is as open as it has been in years.

The women's division may be the more predictable of the two. Paulson has won here before and holds the record, and no other entrant has run faster on this course. The men's race is harder to call, with Penalba, Kostelnick and Lewis all capable of the podium and a rookie contingent that makes up two-thirds of the field.

For most of the field, the race is about finishing rather than winning. Last year, 93 of 99 starters reached Mount Whitney, a finish rate of 94 percent that ranks among the highest in the event's recent history.

First starters leave Badwater Basin at 8 p.m. on July 27. The last of the finishers will still be climbing toward Mount Whitney two days later.