Kaylee’s Badwater 135 Run

By mitchpa on August 20, 2023 • ( 1 )

By George A. Hancock
runnergah@comcast.net

The 2023 Badwater 135 ultramarathon created running history. Eighteen-year-old Kaylee Frederick, from Greater Johnstown, Pennsylvania, became the youngest Badwater finisher after she crossed the finish line in 40:06:43.

The Badwater 135 is described as the toughest footrace in the world. The run begins in the Badwater Basin at the lowest elevation in the United States. The early July run continues across Death Valley towards Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the continental United States. The finish line today is at the Whitney trail portal.

This race is by invitation only. Kaylee petitioned the race committee for entrance into this grueling ultra-marathon race. Despite her youth Kaylee had compiled an impressive ultramarathon resume. Kaylee was invited to run the 2023 race.

Badwater features a 48-hour run time limit with set times at various checkpoints. Each runner must have a support team in place. Water, food, pacing, medical issues, and moral support are provided by the support-team members.

Kaylee’s support team included her mother, Georgetta, Johnstown Running Club members Fran Brown and Andrew Boyd, and veteran Badwater 14-time finisher John Radich. Another veteran Badwater runner, Keith Straw, provided encouragement on the course during his own Badwater run.

Kaylee Frederick resides in the Conemaugh Township section of northern Somerset County. She recently graduated from Conemaugh Township High School. Kaylee played soccer, ran cross-country, and was a member of the track and field team. She is also a gifted long-distance runner.

Kaylee will attend the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown this fall. She plans to double major in secondary education and biology with a minor in chemistry. Her goal is a high-school teaching and coaching career. Of course, ultra-marathons remain high on her wish list.

In a recent interview I asked Kaylee about her feelings as she stood at the Badwater start line. Kaylee stated, “At the start of the race I was definitely nervous. Standing next to all of those other athletes who had worked so hard to be standing there with me was amazing. Just the mere thought of what I was about to do overwhelmed me. I was about to live my dream.”

Kaylee also talked about crossing the Badwater finish line. She said, “The end of the race was surreal. The support, the love, the emotion. Everything was amazing. Running across that finish line was so awesome, just finally accomplishing something I had dreamed of for years. It was truly life changing.”

Will Kaylee Frederick run the Badwater 135 again? Yes she will. “I will definitely run Badwater again, as long as I get in.”

Kaylee mentioned several other races in our interview. “I have so many races I want to run eventually. Western States, Cocodona 250, Triple Crown of 200s, Grand Slam of 100s and the Barkley Marathon.”

Kaylee’s mom, Georgetta, stated in her interview, “I was so excited for Kaylee and very grateful to be part of the moment. I am grateful for the opportunity to support her in this journey! It’s been simply amazing.” Kaylee’s older sister, Carla, also provided hugs and moral support before and after her Badwater 135 journey.

There were two Pennsylvania runners in the 2023 Badwater 135 run. Keith Straw, 68, from Malvern, PA, completed his 9th Badwater run in 42:39:11. Keith had met Kaylee in previous ultramarathons; they quickly became friends. Straw provided valuable guidance, assistance, and moral support to the young ultramarathoner.

Keith recently told Runner’s Gazette: “I knew there was something special about Kaylee, and so I reached out to Chris Kostman, the Badwater race director, to change his rules to allow her the opportunity to be the youngest ever athlete to finish. [The partnership] makes for a good story: The old mentor, half a century her senior, teams up with talented youngster, to enable her dream to become the youngest ever finisher of The World’s Toughest Foot Race.”

The 2023 Badwater 135 featured 89 finishers. Ashley Paulson, 41, from St. George, Utah crossed the finish line first in 21:44:35. Paulson is a repeat winner having finishing first the previous year in 24:09:34. This year she dropped 2 ½ hours off her 2022 finishing time and ran an incredible race in that brutal Death Valley heat.

Kaylee Frederick is compiling impressive ultra-marathon credits. Remember her name.

Update: Kaylee completed the August 12-13 Eastern States 100 Miler, becoming the youngest female finisher ever in this grueling ultra-run. She finished 97th overall in thirty four hours and forty five minutes (34:45). With her finish, she completed the Pennsylvania Triple Crown of Mountain Running (Hyner 50K, the Worlds End 100K and the Eastern States 100 miler)!

Photos courtesy of Kaylee’s family.