2026 Badwater 135 Ultramarathon Application

The World’s Toughest Foot Race

Covering 135 miles (217km) non-stop from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney, CA, the Badwater® 135 is the most demanding and extreme running race offered anywhere on the planet, as well as the 135-Mile World Championship. The start line is at Badwater Basin, Death Valley, which marks the lowest elevation in North America at 280’ (85m) below sea level. The race finishes at Whitney Portal at 8,300’ (2530m), which is the trailhead to the Mt. Whitney summit, the highest point in the contiguous United States. The Badwater 135 course covers three mountain ranges for a total of 14,600’ (4450m) of cumulative vertical ascent and 6,100’ (1859m) of cumulative descent.

Competitors travel through places or landmarks with names like Mushroom Rock, Furnace Creek, Salt Creek, Devil’s Cornfield, Devil’s Golf Course, Stovepipe Wells, Panamint Springs, Darwin, Keeler, Lone Pine, Alabama Hills, and the Sierra Nevada.

Note: The ancient and still current Native American name for “Death Valley” is Tüpippüh. Learn more here and here.

Event Details

AdventureCORPS® will host the 49th anniversary of “the world’s toughest foot race” on Monday-Wednesday, July 27-29, 2026.

• Location: Hwy 190, Furnace Creek, CA
• Distance: 135 miles (217km)
• Elevation Change: 14,600’ (4450m) ascent and 6,100’ (1859m) descent
• Competition: Up to 100 athletes

Challenge of the Champions

A true "challenge of the champions," the Badwater 135 pits up to 100 of the world’s toughest athletes against one another and the elements. The time limit is forty-eight hours and the finisher's award is the coveted Badwater belt buckle, the Holy Grail of endurance sports.

Applying

The Badwater 135 is, and always has been, an invitational race. Applicants will be considered purely upon their race application and its specific written merits.

• Application Period: January 2 at 10:00 am PST to January 20 at 5:00 pm PST
• Field Announcement: February 1 live on FB.
• Participants: Anticipated women and men from twenty or more countries and twenty or more American states
• Rookie/Veteran Ratio: Approximately 2/3 rookies and 1/3 veterans will be invited.

Veteran Information

If you are a veteran of this event (or some, but not all, other AdventureCORPS events), our online results database will have assigned you your permanent AdventureCORPS ID #. Please find and input your official AdventureCORPS History via this link: AdventureCORPS History.

You will also need the link to your UltraSignUp.com personal history and to your d-u-v.org history, so please find them in advance of completing your application.

Important Notes

Before completing this application, please study the Race Application and Information page. Please provide extensive answers to all questions. Incomplete race applications will be rejected.

• Prepare: Do not begin this application until you are ready to submit all of the information QUICKLY.
• Study Questions: We recommend you study the questions, then go elsewhere to prepare all of the information.
• Time Out Warning: If you leave the application page open for too long, it may "time out" and you will lose everything when you click Submit at the end. Be careful!