Badwater is globally recognized as the world's hardest footrace. It is a 135 mile race in temperatures reaching 130 degrees. The race starts at Badwater, Death Valley, which is the lowest elevation in the Western Hemisphere. The finish line is at Mt. Whitney Portals, which is the highest elevation in the contiguous United States.

The runners trudge through places with names like "Devil's Golfcourse" running a total of 13,000' of elevation. With ground temperatures reaching, 200 degrees the runner's shoes often melt.

This year, Auburn student Will Ansick is competing. In order to qualify, Ansick had to race in two ultramarathons over 100 miles within a year and be on the crew a Badwater racer.

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"In the release they make you sign there's a long list of all the things that could happen," says Ansick. "Everything from Dehydration to hallucinations to renal failure, brain damage, and even death."

Because of the dangerous conditions each runner has a crew. The crew members will each take turns jogging behind their runner administering fluids and food as well as making sure the runner is lucid.

“They’ll make sure I stay damp,” explains Ansick. “The temperatures are so hot that your sweat evaporates. So your crew makes sure you still cool enough. They are there to catch anything that could turn into a major medical problem.”

"People's first question is usually 'Why?'," says Ansick. "When I was on the crew for my family friend I knew I wanted to run it. The environment is so harsh and the difficulty of the race drew me to it."

Ansick started running in high school because he was "bored and getting fat." He started with marathons and triathlons eventually working up to ultramarathons. “Ultras”, as they are called, are races longer than 26.2 miles.

“I guess one of the biggest thing about me doing 'Badwater' is that there is only one person younger than me that's finished the race,” says Ansick. “Before last year there had never been anybody younger than 24 attempt the race. This year there are four of us under the age of 24."

Currently Ansick is training 16 hours a week. He increases the time by 30 minutes each week.

"I do something with my legs everyday,” explains Ansick. “But I don't run every day because I am trying to prevent overuse injuries. I also go to massage therapy at Auburn Bodyworkers. They work out tense muscles so I can recover quickly."

Ansick hopes to finish the race in 33 to 40 hours but will be happy if he finishes anywhere under 48 hours. The race has a time limit of 60 hours. During this time most competitive runners don’t stop for sleep.

"The hardest thing will definitely be the mental aspect of it,” says Ansick. “Being able to see exactly where you are going for so far and not feeling like you're gaining any ground. Just feeling like its dragging out becoming unmotivated."

Ansick explained that the visibility there makes it difficult because runners can see for miles and get discouraged when they don’t seem to get closer to landmarks for hours.

"When you're competing it's you versus the elements,” says Ansick. “You have to put in the time. If you don't do well it's on you. If someone does better than you it's because they worked harder. There's no one you can blame but you."