For Arlington Man, a Marathon is Just a Warmup

The 50-mile runs are not that much harder than regular marathons, but 100-milers "are a whole different ballgame," Dodds said. He prepares for the longer races by running extended distances five to six times a week and trying to train in the woods or mountains. The regular 26.2-mile marathons with which he started are now simply part of his training regimen.

Until this year, however, Dodds had not attempted the Badwater, which starts at the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere and goes partway up Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states. The race is run on a paved road with a surface temperature of 200 degrees. Air temperatures can reach 130 degrees.

"Badwater is in its own class because of the extreme conditions. Not a lot of people want to do it," Dodds said.

It was in preparing to run Badwater that Dodds would jog through the National Mall and through Arlington on 90-degree days wearing multiple layers of clothing. Sometimes, he would wear a white jacket and white pants and drag a tire behind him, all to prepare for the conditions of Badwater.

Participants generally run all the way through an ultramarathon but occasionally stop at aid stations along the route to drink water and eat foods such as pretzels and even sandwiches. Like racecar drivers, some ultrarunners have "crews" of people who wait at the aid stations and help them recharge. All runners carry water or some sort of liquid with them, some on fanny packs around their waists.

Occasionally, runners might sleep for an hour or two during a longer ultramarathon, but Dodds says he never does.

During the Badwater climb, however, exhaustion forced Dodds and most other runners to stop and walk on occasion.

Still, "it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," Dodds said. "I had a friend make this cloth tube that I wore around my neck and we put ice cubes in it. I call it my ice necklace."

Dodds started the Badwater early on a Monday morning and finished early Tuesday evening, in 35 hours 25 minutes, coming in ninth out of the 81 runners who started the race. Only 67 runners finished.

The Badwater was the first time Dodds ran to raise money to fight cerebral palsy. The disease was diagnosed in his son, Matthew, now 14, when he was 1 year old. Dodds raised about $5,500 in contributions for United Cerebral Palsy's research and educational foundation.

"I feel pretty good about it," he said. "It's probably not a lot of money in the scheme of things from UCP's standpoint, but every little bit helps."

During the Badwater, members of Dodd's three-member crew would call in occasional updates on his progress to the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club, which would post them on its Web site, at http://www.vhtrc.org/ .

Anstr Davidson, the running club's webmaster and treasurer, says that while Dodds started running later than most, he is part of a general class of ultrarunners who are in their late thirties or forties.

"There are some very young hotshots, but generally the very good ultrarunners are relatively older," Davidson said. "Faster people are going to do better, but it's not about raw speed by itself. There is an element of maturity."

More mature runners, he added, are more likely to pace themselves and avoid the physical hardships that can occasionally afflict ultrarunners, which range from blisters and twisted ankles to heatstroke and even hallucinations. Dodds plays down any health risks, though he says that ultrarunners should be properly trained.

Dodds said he plans to continue running for the foreseeable future. He points out that one of his best "running buddies" is 61.

"Am I going to last that long? I don't know," he said. "Guys like that are pretty incredible. But I am running faster now than I ever have."