{"id":92035,"date":"2023-04-21T11:46:20","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T09:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/42krunning.com\/ivan-penalba-wants-to-conquer-the-badwater-135\/"},"modified":"2023-04-21T11:46:20","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T09:46:20","slug":"ivan-penalba-wants-to-conquer-the-badwater-135","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/42krunning.com\/en\/ivan-penalba-wants-to-conquer-the-badwater-135\/","title":{"rendered":"Iv\u00e1n Penalba wants to conquer the Badwater 135"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iv\u00e1n Penalba wants to conquer the Badwater 135<\/strong> and become part of the history of the toughest race in the world<\/strong>. In 2022, in his first appearance, he finished second and became the first Spaniard to reach the podium. <\/p>\n

His big challenge for 2023 is to conquer the Badwater 135, a race he first faced in 2022 and which has become his greatest sporting challenge<\/strong>. “I already know what I’m up against and I think I can dream of victory. Last year I ran it for the first time and everything was new to me. It’s a race that isn’t comparable to any other in the world, so the best experience is having run it to know what you’re facing,”<\/em> explains Iv\u00e1n Penalba.<\/p>\n

Iv\u00e1n Penalba aims for victory and a record time<\/h2>\n

The Badwater 135<\/a> is considered the most extreme and challenging long-distance competition in the world. Its 135 miles (217 kilometers)<\/strong> cross one of the most inhospitable places on the planet: Death Valley<\/strong><\/a>, a desert valley located in southeastern California, in the Mojave Desert<\/a>. It is one of the hottest places in the world in summer, with daytime temperatures reaching or even exceeding 50\u00b0C and dropping to 34\u00b0C at night in the best-case scenario. <\/p>\n

\"Iv\u00e1n<\/a>
The endless roads of Death Valley. (Photo: Joaqu\u00edn Candel)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a curiosity, Death Valley holds the record for the highest temperature ever recorded in the world: 134\u00b0F (56.7\u00b0C) on July 10, 1913.<\/p>\n

In 2022<\/strong>, Iv\u00e1n Penalba became the seventh Spaniard selected to face the 135 miles of Badwater. He prepared thoroughly\u2014including training in a sauna to get his body used to extreme temperatures\u2014and finished in second place<\/strong> with a time of 24h:02\u2032:57\u2033, behind Japan’s Yoshihiko Ishikawa, who completed the course in 23h:08\u2032:20\u2033 and repeated his 2019 victory. <\/p>\n

The Valencian ultra-runner made history by becoming the first Spaniard to reach the race podium<\/strong>, but he returned from American soil with the dream of going back to the Badwater 135 to take the win and set a new time record (the men’s record is held by Valmir Nunes at 22h:51′:29″ and the women’s by Jamie Donalson at 26h:16′:12″).<\/p>\n

“Badwater is not a normal ultra-distance event; it requires very specific preparation, both physically and psychologically. It’s an extreme race because the temperatures are hellish and any physical activity becomes very difficult. Last year I prepared as best I could and knew how, but I didn’t know exactly what I was facing. This year I already know what I’m up against and what I need to improve in my preparation and race strategy,”<\/em> says the Valencian athlete.<\/p>\n

\"Iv\u00e1n<\/a>
Running with night visibility vests during the 2022 edition. (Photo: Joaqu\u00edn Candel).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The greatest demand and difficulty of the Badwater 135 lies in being able to run for hours and hours in hellish temperatures<\/strong>, as Iv\u00e1n Penalba explains. “You need exceptional physical preparation, but you also have to work hard on psychological preparation because the hardest part in this case isn’t the distance itself (217 kilometers), but the exhaustion of maintaining focus and a competitive pace in heat that is indescribable. And a fundamental aspect for staying focused and being able to aim for victory, as I saw in 2022, is having a very experienced support team.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Carmen P\u00e9rez, Iv\u00e1n Penalba’s inseparable partner in struggle<\/h3>\n

Iv\u00e1n Penalba will have a highly qualified team this year to assist him in his big sporting challenge of the year. Leading the team will be Joaqu\u00edn C\u00e1ndel<\/strong>, a Spaniard living in Las Vegas who knows the Badwater 135 and all its administrative and logistical-sporting quirks better than anyone. And to help him on the burning asphalt of endless roads, he will have the company of two elite ultra-runners: Mexico’s Oscar Hern\u00e1ndez<\/strong> and Spain’s Carmen P\u00e9rez Serrano<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

Both are following a strict training program to provide the help Penalba will need on July 4 during the more than twenty hours he will have to run non-stop.<\/p>\n

\"Iv\u00e1n<\/a>
Carmen P\u00e9rez will be with Iv\u00e1n Penalba at the Badwater 135.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carmen, Iv\u00e1n’s inseparable partner in struggle, has extensive experience in ultra-distance events (both road and mountain) and currently holds the Spanish women’s 100 km record (7h:47′:14″, set at the 2022 100 km World Championships in Berlin), as well as the Spanish 6H and 12H records.<\/p>\n

Joaqu\u00edn Candel, Carmen P\u00e9rez, and Oscar Hern\u00e1ndez will be the three athletes accompanying the runner from Alfafar (Valencia) on the ground during the big challenge, but ‘Team Penalba’ also includes physiotherapists David Valenzuela (Box 55<\/a>) and Pablo Salvador, physical trainer Sebastian Bialobrzeski, psychologist Pedro Quesada, and podiatrists Salva Jesuardo and Nuria Gil.<\/p>\n

Iv\u00e1n Penalba’s roadmap for the Badwater 135<\/h3>\n

The Badwater 135 is Iv\u00e1n Penalba’s big sporting challenge for 2023, which is why he has designed his competition calendar to reach peak fitness in July.<\/p>\n

\"Iv\u00e1n<\/a>
“The conquest of hell,” is how Iv\u00e1n Penalba has named his big challenge for 2023.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The competition roadmap began on February 25 at the Conero 100 km (Italy), where he finished in third place with a time of 7h:03′:17″. February was the first month of his specific preparation for Badwater, and he finished it with 685.2 km in 26 days (an average of 26.5 km\/day). <\/p>\n

The second event of the year he competed in was the Sofia 12 Hours (Bulgaria), the first race he ran alongside Carmen P\u00e9rez and where he finished in first place after completing 146.6 km (136.300 km for Carmen). “The Sofia 12 Hours was the first event we competed in together and we were able to experience the feeling of working and striving as a team. Achieving maximum synergy is fundamental for Death Valley,”<\/em> he explains.<\/p>\n

In April, they lined up for the Venice 24 Hours, a race where Penalba also took the top spot on the podium after totaling 254.03 km (the sixth time he has exceeded 254 km in a 24-hour event), while Carmen P\u00e9rez finished in second place for the women.<\/p>\n

\"Iv\u00e1n<\/a>
Iv\u00e1n Penalba and Carmen P\u00e9rez before facing the Venice 24H.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the Venice 24 Hours, Iv\u00e1n Penalba now has a total of 62 official ultra-distance events in his sporting career, with 9 completed 24h races.
\n“I’m very satisfied with the performance in the first three months of the year. Everything is going as I wanted. In the first block of ‘training – tests’ I’ve run three official ultra-distance competitions in 49 days, totaling over 500 kilometers, and I’ve achieved 3 podiums. Also, I’m happy because in each of these competitions I’ve done many nutrition and hydration tests, etc., which will be relevant for Badwater,”<\/em> he explains.<\/p>\n

The competition roadmap to fine-tune preparation for Death Valley includes the following events:<\/p>\n