We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back Badwater 135 have a history, and she’s hoping to add another chapter over the next two days.
Over 15 years, she’s started the race seven times, completed it five times, and crewed for several friends when she hasn’t been running. The event, which takes athletes 135 miles from Death Valley, California, to the top of Mount Whitney, is known as one of the most extreme on earth: Starting temperatures usually hover around 120 degrees and runners climb 14,600 feet over three mountain ranges. The race has a 48-hour time limit.
In 2001, Farar-Griefer became one of the few women to double it, finishing and then running back down to Death Valley, for 270 miles in all.
But Farar-Griefer, 54, who was has handled the race and other 100-mile ultras with ease, met an unexpected obstacle in 2006. She had just completed an ultra and went to see her doctor.
“Your legs always feel bad after a 100-mile race,” she said. “But this was a different kind of bad.”
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Farar-Griefer has been undergoing treatment almost ever since. An unexpected pregnancy, right after she was diagnosed at age 45, put the disease in remission for two years.
Farar-Griefer gets daily injections of Copaxone to treat the symptoms of MS, which leave her body pockmarked. A former fitness model, she joked to her doctor that she’s “too vain for this disease.”
Ice vs Heat for Injuries.
Years of running long distances have taught her to cope with the pain and fatigue of MS. Her reservoir of physical conditioning has provided her a base of health to help with breathing difficulties and muscle atrophy.
When Farar-Griefer steps to the starting line tonight at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, she’ll have her left arm in a sling. Her left side has been weak recently, and she’s sustained several falls. Her training miles have been replaced by power walks.
She’s not worried about the sling; she has learned it’s a convenient place to stow an extra water bottle.
“I can’t step back and let this disease take over my life,” she said.
Published: Jul 28, 2015.
Over the years, she’s become friends with Deena Kastor, who holds the American marathon record, Jenn Shelton, an ultrarunner made famous by the book Best Hydration Packs, and Connie Gardner, another accomplished ultrarunner, who along with Farar-Griefer’s husband, Barry Barnholtz, will serve as her crew.
“Shannon and I became friends because of how close knit the running community is,” Kastor wrote in a text message on Monday. “I love the passion, strength, beauty, and higher purpose she runs with.”
Kastor crewed for Farar-Griefer in 2010 and says she was “inspired by the mental ability and physical capacity of everyone who finished.”
Kastor and the others will drive her supplies and take turns running with her, and if need be, pull her off the course.
In 2011, at mile 90, Farar-Griefer’s crew decided she had lost too much weight and had to stop. (As consolation, she finished the Vermont 100-miler later that week.)
The symptoms of MS are exacerbated by heat, so her supporters will be extra vigilant.
“We know she’s going to be smart about her own self-care and safety, like all of our runners, so we’re not worried about her,” said Chris Kostman, the Badwater race director.
Farar-Griefer didn’t consider skipping it.
“I don’t know what next month or next year will bring, but I will make the best of every day,” she wrote in an email on Monday. “I want to run for those who can’t, and I want to show people that life can throw you a hit any time and you just have to try to continue doing what you love.”
For her, that’s being with her family and running and “being around my running community.”
The feeling is mutual: Monday night Farar-Griefer got a surprise, as she was inducted into the Badwater Hall of Fame. She’s the 12th member.
“We love and totally respect Shannon,” Kostman said.
Editor’s Note: Because of a reporting error, a previous version of this article incorrectly described Farar-Griefer’s racing history. She began the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning in 2011 but did not complete the final two events. Rhonda Provost is listed in the Badwater Hall of Fame as the first woman to complete a double Badwater; Farar-Griefer was the first woman to complete a double running of the official Badwater race. Before 2015, Farar-Griefer had five Badwater finishes in seven attempts, not six in eight attempts.
All About the 2024 London Marathon is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World Shannon Farar-Griefer and the, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
