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  Badwater Ultramarathon

  Monday morning, 14th July 2008 6 a.m. local time. In the dawn light, 80 invited athletes from 12 countries, including 6 from Germany, have gathered at the start of the hardest ultramarathon in the world. Every single one of them has completed an intensive preparation phase – absolutely essential for them to be able to com-plete the strength and will-sapping slog through the inferno of the Californian desert. In addition to the need for physical and mental fitness – acquired in daily training and preparatory runs – the organizational backup has to be sound. The event organizer specifies that each entrant must be accompanied by at least two personal supporters – in my case, these were my wife and daughter. The supporters have a key part to play, because there is no direct support from the organizer during the run and medical posts are available only for excep-tional situations. The supporters’ responsibilities include continuous provisioning of the runners with all the necessities – above all up to 30 litres of bodily fluids, lost through perspiration, have to be replaced – and they are also expected to keep a critical eye on the athlete’s “general condition”, particularly when the extreme stress starts to cloud his or her judgement, bringing the risk of erratic behaviour.