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I have felt the red Moroccan sun against my skin as I ran through the Sahara desert.  I’ve experienced the deep chill of a wild Himalayan night.  And I’ve felt the harsh, oven-hot headwinds of a Death Valley summer.

I wish I could adequately explain the passion I feel for this sport.  I wish I could find the words to explain to you the excitement and joy of ultrarunning.  It’s a sport that might never be able to gain the same following as other professional sports – basketball, baseball, football, soccer.  There’s not much money involved in ultrarunning.  It’s outside the mainstream.  But it’s pure and accessible, open to allow perfectly ordinary people the chance to do extraordinary things. I‘m grateful to be one of them.

This sport has brought a great deal of adventure to my life.  In a very real sense, running has saved my life.  The pain of drug addiction, eating disorders, and sexual abuse all color my past.  I have used running to confront that pain and move through it.  To grow in spite of it.  For many years, I raced – sometimes two times in the same day – to win, to beat anybody who tried to go up against me.  And very often I was successful.  The whole experience awakened in me a desire to push harder and dig deeper, to get out of life all that I can.  I’ve spent most of my adult life thinking about what it means to endure, and I still don’t have a definite answer.  I think it has something to do with humility so it is definitely connected to God.  Every great endurance athlete I have met seems to possess a certain nobility of the soul.  They conduct themselves with grace and honor.

I strive to live up to this standard every day of my life.  In 2010, I became the first person to run 50 miles in 50 states in 62 days to raise money for AIDS orphans in India and Africa.  It was one of the greatest challenges of my life.  During my 50 mile run in Texas, state 26 of the project, I stepped into a pothole and broke the bones in my feet.  I finished the 2,500 mile run with a broken foot.  The project was called Running Hope Through America (www.runhope.com).

You could say I am driven.  Motivated.  What motivates me?  Over the years, I have worked with Sister Marybeth Lloyd, a member of the order of the Religious Teachers Fillipini, known affectionately in the ultrarunning community as “the running nun,” to raise funds for AIDS orphans. We have many missions full of children that need our help. According to Sister Marybeth over the course of 26 years, I have raised $7.5 million to help these children around the world.  I have adopted the philosophy of running for a purpose: I believe in using one’s gifts for athletic endurance to benefit the less fortunate.  Raising money for orphans is one of the defining passions of my daily life.

As a coach, I believe in leading by example, and I thoroughly believe in using one’s own story to inspire others to make positive changes in their own lives. I have started writing a book to tell my story but it keeps getting put on the back burner because I feel the strong need and desire to continue running to raise money.

In the past few years I have become aware that my next running project needed to focus on helping so many who are without WATER! Currently a billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and 2.6 billion lack access to basic sanitation. According to World Health Organization(WHO), the contaminated and infectious bacteria that cause diarrhea account for 4.1 percent of the global disease burden killing 1.8 million children a year. Right now more folks have access to a cell phone than a toilet! I want and need to help solve our water worries. When God calls I have learned to sit still and listen. He talks about water a lot. With water we can alleviate world hunger, lower global disease and show the needy that we care about them.

Sister Marybeth, my inspiration, has started many missions where we have hundreds of children with little or NO water. Please see the attachment, Mission Info, to learn where they are and how many people live without safe, clean water. For many years I have run to help feed the children and build schools but now I see the progress that could be made with GOOD water. Less sickness, less death, more health, time and energy to grow food and even prosper!

Everyone deserves a life of dignity and grace; everyone deserves good water!

On July 15th I will start my next running project called ‘Running From Badwater 4 Good Water’.

I will stand at the starting line of the Badwater 135 mile endurance race with 99 other athletes from around the World who have been chosen to participate in this race. This will be my attempt to become the first women to complete the ‘BW 135’ ten times.

The race starts at Badwater in Death Valley which is the lowest point in the USA, -282 feet below Sea Level and finishes 135 miles later at the Portals of Mt. Whitney which is just over 8,000 feet. The race is hot, hilly and hard! God willing I will continue on to summit Mt. Whitney which is considered the highest point in the Continental USA, 14,876 feet. I will then make my way back to Badwater for a total of 292 miles and then start all over again, Badwater to the summit of Mt. Whitney and back to Badwater to finish with a total of 594 miles. The goal is to cover the Badwater course 4 times coming up with the project name Badwater 4 Good Water.

My longtime friend and mentor Marshall Ulrich who will be running his 19th Badwater race will join me during this project. I am honored and blessed to have Marshall along because he is has already accomplished the Quad. (4 times Badwater)I was on Marshalls crew when he completed the Quad and he continues to always inspire me. I will be the first women to attempt the Quad and I feel confident in my ability to accomplish this goal. There are very few things in my life that I have started and have not finished, especially when it involves a commitment to helping others in need.

Here is the link to the Badwater race http://www.badwater.com/

You may wonder why you are getting this very long letter from meJ You are getting this letter because I need your help. As you can imagine doing these projects can’t happen without the love and finical support of others, organizations and companies that believe in what and why you are doing it. In 2008 I started the Dreamchasers Foundation with Sister Marybeth so that money raised we knew was going to go directly to where we wanted it to go and where those who made donations would feel good about and know exactly what there donation was helping. At this time we still don’t have an “official web site for the DC foundation” and we are seeking someone who would volunteer their time and service to do this for us. We have several people who are on the board who have helped for years with getting donations. An example, last year Alexa ran the Badwater race and raised over $6,000 for our mission in Brazil.  www.dreamchasersfoundation.com

In order to complete this project I have estimated the cost would be $12,000. This would cover airfare, hotels, van rentals, gas, food and supplies for a total of 11-13 days. I have a crew of 6-8 people that will donate their time and energy to helping me accomplish this project with the hopes of raising a great deal of money and awareness for Water!

Please sit back and take a few moments to pray and mediate on this project. Think about where and how you can help either with press release, setting up FB page and all social media, or connect me to a corporation that believes in this project as it is a tax write off and will gain National attention.

Sassi…800 children

Zalambessa..900 children..

Adigrat  900 children..

These are in Ethiopia and most needed Munagallapalli, India  300 families…about 1200 children plus adults all in the village would use the well.

For more information: http://www.dreamchaserevents.com/About-Us/Lisa-Smith-Batchen/

Face Book Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Badwater-4-Good-Water/507957382596658?ref=hl

Thank you for your time to read this and any efforts you may be able to offer.

I am forever grateful.

Lisa Smith-Batchen
Dreamchasers Outdoor Adventures
Victor, Idaho
www.dreamchaserevents.com

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“Training for an adventure race has to be detailed, planned and calculated. you must prepare, set aside the time, and give up a lot to race at the level that we do. We miss many birthday parties and time with family and friends. We sacrifice to compete at the level that we do, but we are reminded of the sacrifices we make when during a race we hit a low point and are suffering. In these moments we are reminded of why we train and who is supporting us, and those sacrifices give us the strength and determination to keep pushing on one step after the other and see it through.”

I participated in cross-country growing up, but the longest distance I ran was the 5k, so the real leap to ultra distances was when I decided to start doing triathlons in 1993. I knew I was hooked when I almost immediately surpassed a lot of the shorter distances and went straight for the Ironman my second year competing as a triathlete. I knew then that pushing my body’s pain threshold was something that truly fueled my spirit and infused my soul. The harder it got, the bigger the smile on my face. Masochistic, yes, but it’s what drove me to train and race harder. I did my first ultra marathon before my first marathon, and it was then that I knew I was hooked on pushing the envelope.

Team Tecnu at the Ar World Championships in France 2012. Photo credit: Andreas Strand

Adventure racing was natural progression for me as an athlete. I was a triathlete that had rapidly graduated to longer distance triathlons and endurance races. As someone who was a really good swimmer and cyclist but a slower runner, I was discouraged by getting off the bike with the pros only to have so many people pass me on the run. As a Clydesdale runner, I started looking for a sport where I could be more competitive. When I found adventure racing it seemed a perfect fit, as I loved to suffer and push myself. I had a deep well of endurance and wouldn’t quit, and the team aspect of the sport intrigued me. Adventure racing was a case of the tortoise and the hare: if you just kept moving in the right direction, made good decisions, and transitioned through the disciplines quickly, then you finished with a top result. I love the ability to be competitive and to work through the variables and hurdles with a team, finding solutions to the countless problems thrown at you during a race as you are suffering toward the finish line.

COMPETING AT PRIMALQUEST

“I was sorely wrong. four and a half days into the race my body shut down; I stopped urinating, my lower back was sore, when I did urinate it was brown— signs of sure kidney failure—and I was drifting in and out of consciousness as the oxygen levels in my bloodstream were dangerously low.”

The last major expedition competition I competed in was the PrimalQuest Montana in 2008. I had taken a few years off because of injuries and life getting in the way of the fun bits when I decided to come out of retirement for a full-length expedition. Due to work constraints, I knew I wouldn’t be able to train like I did in the past, but I thought my mental tenacity and ability to suffer would carry me through after many years of racing under my belt. I was sorely wrong. Four and a half days into the race my body shut down; I stopped urinating, my lower back was sore, when I did urinate it was brown—signs of sure kidney failure—and I was drifting in and out of consciousness as the oxygen levels in my bloodstream were dangerously low. I had contracted pneumonia just before the race, and the elevation we went to in that 450- mile expedition race caused my heart to race and my lungs suffer. Ultimately I ended up in the ICU in a small town in Montana. I spent 2 days getting massive amount of fluids and antibiotics until I was able to join my team to crew for them while they finished the race. As someone who had never quit anything before, being pulled from a race by medical person- nel who were concerned for my safety was a very humbling experience, and is to this day, difficult to deal with. I felt like I’d let my team down, and failed to complete a journey I had set out with them on. You race as hard as you possibly can as an individual athlete with pre-set pain thresholds; but when you join a team with the goal to push the envelope as hard as you can together, those pre-set limits get thrown out the window, and you get a real sense of how deep into the well you truly can go. Adventure racing teaches you a lot about life, teamwork and what it means to work together as a group to overcome adversity. Controlling the variables and overcoming what Mother Nature and the terrain throw at you teaches you to push past uncomfortable situations and find your balance as an athlete. Adventure racing is truly poetry in motion, and the team that masters it becomes a team that’s very hard to beat. It is this vision of running the perfect race that keeps us coming back each time to toe the line.

“Controlling the variables and overcoming what Mother nature and the terrain throw at you teaches you to push past uncomfortable situations and find your balance as an athlete. Adventure racing is truly poetry in motion, and the team that masters it becomes a team that’s very hard to beat. It is this vision of running the perfect race that keeps us coming back each time to toe the line.”

TEAM TECNU’S PERSONALITY

“What drives Tecnu adventure racing is the ability to take the team from one point on the race course to another point as fast as is humanly possible. We have assembeled like-minded athletes who want to explore the world, see amazing beauty in the back-country, push their bodies to the limit and go for the top rung of the podium. Tecnu consists of Kyle Peter, Bob Miller, Garret Bean, Karen Lundgren, Andrew Peterson, Mindy Fernando, and myself. Everyday the team gets up to go outside and try to suffer more than our competition because we know that the more we put into the well, come race day, the more we will have to tap into. Our team has an internal flame burning brightly to see just how far as a team we can push our bodies before they break down. We continue to search for that ultimate race where as a complete team we cross the finish line, collapsing, knowing we tapped the well and it is officially dry. When that day happens, Team Tecnu will know that it has succeeded. We have not accomplished that goal, so we actively seek it, racing more than 10 times a year.”

Team Tecnu

ON TRAINING, SPONSORSHIP AND WORK/LIFE DIVERSITY

Training for an adventure race has to be detailed, planned and calculated. You must prepare, set aside the time and give up a lot to race at the level that we do. We miss many birthday parties and time with family and friends. We sacrifice to compete at the level that we do, but we are reminded of the sacrifices we make when during a race we hit a low point and are suffering. In these moments we are reminded of why we train and who is supporting us, and those sacrifices give us the strength and determination to keep pushing on one step after the other and see it through. Team Tecnu has amazing sponsors and partners who help us compete at a top level, and we are VERY thankful for them; without them, we would not be able to do what we do. We promote products we believe in and use and abuse on a daily level. We are constantly looking for products that help us travel faster and lighter through the terrain, and we are always looking for companies who are innovative and who push the envelope like we do. To that end, companies like Pacific Health Labs—makers of Accel bars, Endurox R-4, and 2nd Surge gels—are secret weapons of the team; their products help us push the barriers of endurance, sustain our energy levels, recover faster from the abuse we put our bodies through, and are always at the top of our packs. Brooks makes a great trail shoe in the Cascadia 7 that allows us to travel fast and light on rough terrain while protecting our feet from stones, bruises and blisters. Darn Tough makes the best socks out there; they protect our feet from developing blisters (which can alter the landscape of your race quickly). Leki makes carbon microstick trekking poles that help us travel quickly across arduous terrain and fold into a small package to store in our packs when not in use. Julbo USA makes some of the most durable and tough sunglasses out there, and our Ultras and Pipelines are a team favorite to protect our eyes. Champion Systems makes the best racing kits for us, and the team looks sharp racing fast out there. AMK and SOL (Adventure Medical Kits and Survive Out- door Longer) make the best first aid kits and gear for the back-country. SOL makes an Escape Biivy that’s breathable, zips up, and is very lightweight and durable, and can be found at the top of our packs at all of our events.

“Team Tecnu has amazing sponsors and partners who help us compete at a top level, and we are very thankful for them; without them, we would not be able to do what we do.”

We are lucky enough to be one of the few sponsored teams on the planet. Since 1995, we have rarely paid an entry fee to attend an event. We learned long ago that if you work hard, play hard, and promote for companies you love and whose products you use and believe in, sponsorships can help ease the burden of paying to race all over the world. We found a company who believes in what we do and what we can do for them, and we race proudly all over the globe representing Tecnu and their continued support of us as we test the boundaries of human endurance. The sport of adventure racing is expensive and requires that you get the best outdoor gear possible for 10 different sports. It’s not like the old days of being a runner when just having a pair of running shoes would do. We need the best mountaineering equipment, all sorts of paddling, fast-packing equipment, the best climbing gear, helmets of all sorts, lights for moving fast at night, best and lightest and most accurate compasses, trail running gear, food, medical gear, mountain bikes, road bikes, inline skates, scooters, and more. Our sport requires that we are the jack of all athletic trades and have a garage full of gear so that we can get atop the podium. Without amazing sponsors like Tecnu, AMK/SOL, Julbo USA, Champion Systems, PHL, Brooks, Lights and Motion, Headsweats, Leki, KEEN, Princeton-Tec and more, we would not be able to do what we love to do.

Kyle Peter and Bob Miller strategize during the 2012 world Championships in France. Photo credit: Andreas Strand

TEAM LIFE

Most of the team is not married, but most of us have partners who understand our desires to train and race hard. Without their support, we could not do what we love to do. It’s so important to find the right partner who either loves the back-country and adventure and does some of the training with you, or who understands you well enough to know that testing the boundaries of human endurance is what fuels our souls, and who is supportive of it and shows up at the finish line to cheer the team home. Finding that balance is so important, as we all know. We have full-time jobs and full-time schedules training as well, so finding the proper balance is key. The entire team’s on Attackpoint.com, so we can log in and track each other’s training to make sure we are all close in our strengths and weaknesses, and can hold each other accountable. We have coaches to fine-tune our training and help us set goals for our training blocks and sessions leading up to races. And we all communicate a lot with each other about our team goals, equipment and race strategy. This helps the team set high bars for achievable success together. We maintain strict fitness and diets that allow us to recover, train well and avoid injuries. We all understand how important it is to straddle the balance of work, training and play, and how that affects our goals in the short and long term. Without amazing and understanding employers who support what we do, it would be incredibly hard to be able to focus on the goals that we have.

“It’s important to remain positive and supportive of your team members, and always remember that pain is fleeting and that the mind will forget quickly. The pain can be absorbed and filtered so that the race can be chopped into many smaller races; the event becomes more about focusing on one task, completion of that goal, then moving onto the next leg of the race. your mind goes numb; days pass by in a blur, and before you know it the team is crossing the finish line.”

DRIVING FACTORS IN ADVENTURE RACING

The desire to see new terrain all over the world and learn about our body and mind’s ability to take on the challenges adventure racing presents, drives us forward. We are inspired by the beauty that surrounds us, the quiet of the back-country and the amount of suffering we can do together as a team. It’s that strong desire to work efficiently and quickly as a single team unit that drives us to race time and again. We strive to run a perfect race together, and until that happens, we will continue to toe the line. Last year was an exceptionally good year for us and we are proud of the way this team has gelled and of what we’ve overcome. We finished 12 races in 2012 and stood on the podium at all of them. We strive for excellence as a team by learning more about how to help each other move more swiftly with less sleep than our competitors in order to push the envelope. The mind can be a powerful tool; it can help you focus on excellence, or, if you let it slip during an expedition competition that last 6-7 days, it can lead to the team’s demise. It’s important to remain positive and supportive of your team members and always remember that pain is fleeting and that the mind will forget quickly. The pain can be absorbed and filtered so that the race can be chopped into many smaller races; the event becomes more about focusing on one task, completion of that goal and then mo ing onto the next leg of the race. During the competition, your mind goes numb, days pass by in a blur and before you know it the team is crossing the finish line.

INJURY

Injury is your body asking it to slow down and take some time off. When injury occurs, it’s important to be conscious and aware enough to slow down, modify the training, ea and recuperate the right way. Sometimes, when you recover properly you come back even stronger than before. Adventure racing allows athletes who are more veteran in years to have an advantage, because racing smart—which comes from experience—outweighs racing fast. For example, I had complete ankle reconstruction in 2005 where I needed a lot of rehab to regain my strength and flexibility. Two and a half years ago I blew apart my tibial platform and broke my tibia lengthwise, so now I have two plates and seven screws in my right leg. But, as with anything, if you take the time to come back properly (and ignore the suggestions of your doctors that you never again do what fuels you and makes you passionate), and focus on getting stronger each and every day, you will make little strides back towards health and fitness, and suddenly one day you’ll be back on the bike, out on the lake paddling, or summiting that mountain while feeling invigorated again by the fortitude of testing yourself.

 

 

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SavageMan is perfectly named: This race is truly savage. In fact, this race is actually way beyond savage! I won SavageMan in its inaugural year and, whenever possible, I add it to my season race calendar. It is by far my favourite half-Iron distance race, for a number of reasons.

First, the race course itself is breathtaking. It consists of a gorgeous wetsuit swim in Deep Creek Lake, a challenging and spectacular bike along Savage River and up Big Savage Mountain, and a beautiful run through Deep Creek State Park.

This race was developed by people who are both passionate about the sport of triathlon and have a deep connection to the natural beauty of the area. It is refreshing to have a race that was born out of these values, as opposed to simply being designed as a big money-making venture. Fuelled by this passion, it comes as no surprise to discover that the race is exceptionally well-managed.

ALL the proceeds from this race go to the Joanna M. Nicolay Melanoma Foundation, an incredibly worthy cause in and of itself – and a particularly apt cause for triathletes to support given the amount of time we spend racing and training in the sun.

On a personal level, I have always found that the tougher race courses suit me best, and this race is the epitome of tough courses. My favourite Ironman is Ironman Lanzarote, which is often referred to as the toughest Ironman in the world because of its winds, the potential for extreme heat and its 9000 feet of ascent on the bike. But SavageMan makes Ironman Lanzarote seem easy! SavageMan has almost 6000 feet of climbing in half the distance and includes a 31%-grade climb at the Westernport Wall. And as tough as that sounds, it is not the 31%-grade climb that makes this race insane – it is the seven miles of climbing (much of it at 20% grades) after “The Wall” that really pushes your limits!

I love this race because you have the opportunity to get a brick, with your name engraved in it, laid at the top of The Wall should you climb it successfully. What other race does that!? I love that the number of participants is kept relatively low, which makes for a more intimate and fun experience. I love this race because the post-race ice cream rocks. I love that you get major bragging rights just for completing the event. I could go on, but quite simply: I love this race because there is nothing else this special out there!

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Training for the Laurel 50K, 2011

In 1997, my life came to a sudden halt when a terrible car accident left me in a coma for three weeks and in a hospital bed for nine weeks, with a very long road to recovery afterwards. The diagnosis at first was terrible. I was basically told I wouldn’t walk again and I would need constant care for the rest of my life. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! I was a runner, super active and now I was being told I would never run again…This couldn’t be happening! It was bad enough that I had a halo holding my neck together, my jaw was wired, and I had lost sight in my left eye. My specialist was trying to save my right eye. So to make it short, I was really in bad condition, and, depression had also taken over. I didn’t want to see anyone in this condition. I couldn’t speak; I had a tracheotomy and the halo on my head. To make it worse, I had a two-year old daughter at home.

I had smashed my face on the steering wheel and my eyes were in terrible condition. The last thing I wanted was people to see me in this condition, but Queta, my sister, and my mom didn’t allow me to do this. They forced their way into my room and made me realize they were there for me. My mother assured me the doctors didn’t have a clue about my eye. She was already upset because for three weeks she had watched the infection in my eyes get worse, and begged the doctors to do something, but they claimed they were trying to keep me alive and had other trauma to deal with that was more vital to them. She encouraged me to try a wiggle my feet. These words were engraved in me. “Wiggle Your Feet!” I just couldn’t. I felt nothing.

One day my mother made her famous scream and my feet finally wiggled, she said, “Te lo dije!!! I told you will walk again!” At 6:30 a.m. every day, my mother would wake me up and make me try to move my legs, and finally try and me get out of my bed. She spent seven weeks on a couch. During the last two weeks of my recovery, the hospital got her a room at the residence hall. My sister, Queta, would visit me every day and encourage me, too.

It took me two years to get myself back to running and in 1999 I ran my first half marathon in Connellsville, PA. I still knew I had a long way to go. The first half was grueling, but I was happy to be doing it and wanted to push myself even further. In 2006, I knew I could do a full marathon. I had been running a lot of 5k, 10k and half marathons but new that marathons and ultras were my long standing goal. And in 2006 I ran my first marathon, the Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon and I knew that my life was getting back to normal, I would continue to run and in 2008 I ran my first 50K, the JC Stone 50K, which was surprising. I had come in second overall!!! First place being one of my idols Connie Gardner.

I believed in being healthy and strong prior to my accident, and having such fantastic support really helped me get back. We are so much stronger than we think, and have to keep telling each other this. It’s like running–doing speed intervals, you push yourself hard but wonder if you could have pushed yourself even harder.

Today I am happy to be able to run, bike, swim and enjoy life with my family and friends. Although I lost the sight in my left eye, I see a beautiful sixteen year old daughter smiling in my direction every day. Never doubt your abilities because you will surprise yourself! I currently am training for my first 100 Burning River and have a very full race schedule for 2012.

Green Jewel 50K

April

Photos:

Photo in the running skirt is Harrisburg Marathon 2010
Photo in shorts is  Montour half marathon 9-2011
Photo with Anne training with tire is for the Laurel 50K 2011
Photo with Anne running is pink is her competing in the Green Jewel 50K

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