Press release from ATRA corporate member Badwater® / AdventureCORPS®, Inc..
The BADWATER® ultra running experience returns to the East Coast when the fourth BADWATER CAPE FEAR race takes place on Bald Head Island, North Carolina this Saturday, March 18, 2017.
With 50km and 51-mile race options, Badwater® Cape Fear features a twelve-mile warm-up on the car-free, one-lane-wide roads of Bald Head Island, followed by either 19 or 39 miles of running on the wild and secluded sandy beach between Cape Fear and Fort Fisher. The race is held along the Atlantic Seaboard with spectacular views of the Frying Pan Shoals to the east and wild and undeveloped marshlands to the west. Running this remote coast is a dramatic, invigorating, and inspiring manner in which to experience the Cape Fear region in all its grandeur!
This exquisite natural setting is the perfect antidote to the “real world” and also a wonderful counterpart to the desert sands and mountains of Death Valley and Anza-Borrego Desert featured in the two West Coast BADWATER® races.
Bald Head Island and nearby Southport, NC (featured in the film “Safe Haven”) are ideal vacation get-away spots for the entire family, located less than one hour from Wilmington, NC and its major airport with Delta and US Airways service. (Flying into Myrtle Beach, SC is another convenient option.) Due to the remarkable beauty and quaint southern charm of this area, as well as this impeccable, authentic BADWATER race experience, many Badwater Cape Fear participants are now making this race an annual pilgrimage!
In 2014, eighty runners from 17 states plus Canada, Philippines, and United Kingdom, ranging in age from 20 to 72, competed.
The 2017 race will feature approximately 196 runners. This includes runners from Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Philippines, United Kingdom, and Venezuela, plus from 28 American states, districts, and territories: Alabama (6), California (15), Colorado (1), Connecticut (1), Delaware (1), Florida (14), Georgia (7), Illinois (1), Kentucky (1), Maryland (2), Massachusetts (4), Michigan (2), Minnesota (1), Nevada (2), New Jersey (3), New York (7), North Carolina (65; up from 37 in 2016!), Ohio (16; up from 8 in 2016!), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (6), Puerto Rico (2), South Carolina (4), Tennessee (4), Texas (10), Virginia (13), Washington (1), and Wisconsin (1).
There are 67 women and 129 men; 60 veterans and 136 rookies. The age range is 17 to 71. Here is the race roster: http://dbase.adventurecorps.com/roster.php?bw_eid=78&ss_eid=80&cf_eid=82&cf=Go
The Official Charity of BADWATER CAPE FEAR is the Bald Head Island Conservancy, a leader in barrier island conservation, preservation, and education. Race participants and supporters appreciate that BHIC cares for this race route’s pristine setting and its role as a sea turtle nesting site, and are encouraged to fundraise for BHIC and support its mission. Learn more at http://www.bhic.org
Local Sponsors and Partners include Coastal Urge, which will host a pre-race social mixer at their Bald Head Island location, and Big Spoon Roasters of Durham, NC, who will provide their locally made nut butter bars to all runners. The finish line feast and the post-race breakfast will be catered by Maritime Market. Special home rental offers on Bald Head Island are available through Bald Head Island Limited, Wendy Wilmot Properties, and Seabreeze Rentals, while the Hampton Inn in Southport has also extended a special rate. The event is being hosted under special permits from the Village of Bald Head Island and Fort Fisher State Recreation Area.
We are excited to continue to recognize Farm To Feet of Mt. Airy, North Carolina as the Official Sock of Badwater! Nobody puts their feet through more hard work and abuse than Badwater athletes, so it’s exciting to have fantastic socks to outfit all of the world’s toughest athletes. Farm To Feet is committed to goal of creating the world’s best wool socks by exclusively using an all-American recipe: US materials, US manufacturing, and US workers. Using a domestic supply chain, Farm To Feet manufactures premium products with the highest quality materials, while minimizing the impact on the environment. All runners will receive a pair at the race. Visit www.farmtofeet.com and order a wide selection with a nice 15% discount code: BADWATER17
We are also pleased to recognize Fisher Space Pen – American-made pens originally created for the space program – as the Official Pen of Badwater. Fisher Space Pens are the most extreme writing instruments – both in and out of this world. They write upside, under water, in zero gravity, and in the most extreme cold and heat, plus they last practically forever. Both Fisher Space Pens and Badwater athletes excel in extreme conditions, so it’s a perfect match! All runners will receive a Fisher Space Pen, with the Badwater logo laser-eteched on it, at the race.
Badwater is going Cup-Free! Bald Head Island and Fort Fisher State Recreation Area are pristine locations and it is our goal to not only keep them that way, but to improve them! As such, we have partnered with HydraPak to GIVE a free SpeedCup to every race entrant! It weighs nothing and easily clips onto a hydration pack or belt; it’s also collapsible! All runners are encouraged to wear / carry them on race day, and at all their races in the future! More and more races are going cup-free because it’s the right thing to do, to cut way back on the waste that is generated at races, especially by one-use plastic cups.
Badwater Cape Fear is the first leg of the BADWATER® ULTRA CUP, which includes Badwater Cape Fear on March 18, the 81-mile Badwater Salton Sea in Borrego Springs, CA on April 30 – May 1, and then the STYR Labs Badwater 135 from California’s Death Valley to Mt. Whitney on July 10-12. Those runners who complete all three full-distance events in the same calendar year are featured on the Badwater website and their virtues will be extolled throughout the Internet and in future editions of BADWATER Magazine. More than 20 runners are registered for all three races, a record number.
The March 2017 edition of BADWATER magazine is available for download as a PDF. It’s 48 pages long and focuses primarily on our Spring races, Badwater Cape Fear and Badwater Salton Sea, and much more. The cover image is attached. Download it here: http://www.adventurecorps.com/downloads/bw/2017March.pdf
2017 Race Webcast: http://www.badwater.com/blog/2017-badwater-cape-fear-webcast/
2017 Race Results (available Monday, March 20): http://dbase.adventurecorps.com/resultsCapeFear.php?cf_eid=82&cfr=Go
Recap video of the 2016 race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMERPc7J-IU
Aerial video of the 2014 race: http://vimeo.com/95564034
AdventureCORPS®, Inc. is an athlete-run firm producing and promoting ultra-endurance sports events and BADWATER®, the world’s toughest brand and the world’s toughest races. Adventure is our way of life. AdventureCORPS’ world-class events for athlete-adventurers include epic races such as the BADWATER® 135, BADWATER® SALTON SEA, BADWATER® CAPE FEAR, Silver State 508™, and other events. Our products include Badwater® Apparel, Badwater® Skin Care, Badwater® Gear, as well as other lifestyle items and services. Founded in 1984 by Chris Kostman, this group effort is dedicated to exploring the inner and outer universes, seeking adventure, energy, and insight both in daily life and “out there.”
