2009 Death Valley Trail Marathon

Titus Canyon in the Death Valley Marathon is spectacular… but when it’s raining Titus Canyon becomes Titus Rapids so the Forest Service closed the 2009 Death Valley Trail Marathon course. Dave Horning always alerts those entering the Death Valley Trail Marathon that the course may have to be rerouted if there is unfavorable weather. On race day this year it was the 2nd worst storm in memory so we ran Dave’s alternate course instead – an out and back on West Side Drive.

Don’t let the name deceive you though. West Side Drive sound like a street you would find on the west side of any metropolis, large or small… In Death Valley however, the West Side drive is a dirt road that meanders through the Devil’s golf course, the corn fields, salt flats, and the entire length is below sea level. In the summer the temperatures are routinely above 130 degrees. This year the mountains flanking the course were clothed in a blanket of new snow, and it was raining in the valley.

When Dave announced the venue change there were sighs of disappointment as many of the competitors came to Death Valley to get away from icy freezing rains. Those of us who had run previous Death Valley Trail Marathons had mixed emotions. Yes it was unfortunate that we couldn’t run Titus but the prospect of a ‘different’ course was exciting… especially a course unrunnable any other time of year.

My personal preference for a trail course is one that climbs several thousand feet and has numerous stream crossings. On this marathon the elevation difference was between 75 and 325 feet below sea level. It was twenty-six point two miles of puddles and mud, though the mud was never more than an inch deep. In one place the entire road was a sheet of shallow water which gave the impression we were walking on water or, at a minimum, running on a mirror.

The weather worsened for those of us near the back of the pack. It began raining in earnest and Dave’s Limo Service drove by offering free rides. He had few takers. The flats along side the road became large vernal ponds. With two miles to go we could see the busses and a few cars parked at the finish line – the ever receding finish line. Hah, I thought – before the rain started the front runners could see the finish from four miles away. We only had to suffer for two.

Annie, my wife and running partner, and I crossed the finish line, received our shirts and medals, and immediately got into a friend’s car for the short drive back to Furnace Creek Lodge. We were warned that there was a possibility of flash floods and we encountered several as we creeped back to the resort. In places the water, mud, and rocks rushed over the road. We managed to slowly drive through them without incident, though shortly after we passed the floods, another vehicle hydroplaned and flipped over… fortunately, the passengers only sustained minor injuries.

Dave later reported the forest service locked the gate onto West Side Drive immediately after the last finisher, and Cal Trans soon closed all of the roads leading out of Death Valley. Employees at the resort filled sandbags and constructed dikes around the ground floor rooms… At dinner Dave announced one eastbound road would be open for about an hour and the highway patrol would lead a caravan out. I looked around – no one appeared to ask for their check.

We finished eating and headed to the crowded saloon for the awards ceremony. I only overheard one negative comment. I couldn’t help but respond – “Are you kidding. For the next twenty years of Death Valley Trail Marathons people will brag about their run down Titus Canyon and you’ll say – But you should have been here in 2009.” Titus Canyon will be there for future runs but there will likely never be another West Side Drive in the rain!