Latest news with #BobBecker
Washington Post
05-08-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
How this 80-year-old still runs ultramarathons — and breaks records
Bob Becker has long thrived on competition, even in snowball fights as a child. Now that he's 80, his competitive edge has only gotten sharper. Even his doctors have taken note. 'Many have said, 'You're crazy,'' said Becker, who visits doctors every few months to check on his health. 'But they've never said don't [run].'
CBS News
16-07-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
An 80-year-old man ran a 135-mile ultramarathon through Death Valley. Here's what it took.
When 80-year-old Bob Becker crossed the finish line 135 miles from his starting point in the scorching Death Valley, he made history as the oldest runner to complete the Badwater 135. The ultramarathon, nicknamed the "world's toughest race," takes runners through a desert in southwestern California in the middle of summer. It was around 118 degrees Fahrenheit when the race started for Becker last week. Over the next 45 hours, he ran along a blazing hot trail and up three mountain ranges. The race ended with 13 miles going straight uphill. "Physically I was actually feeling pretty good, but also completely relieved that I was done. It's an exhausting thing," Becker told CBS News. "The adrenaline's pumping. When you hit that finish line after that excitement and all that commotion of all the people around you cheering you on, your body says 'OK, time to get down that hill, get a shower, get in the hotel and get some sleep.'" Becker was one of just 93 people to complete the Badwater 135 this year. It was his sixth time participating as a runner, though he's also worked on support teams for others in the race over the last 18 years. Three years ago at age 77, he'd hoped to break the previous record for the oldest runner to complete the race. His back gave out on him and while he did complete it, he didn't finish it within 48 hours, which is the official deadline. Becker finished 17 minutes after the cut off. He wasn't sure he'd give it another go, but after completing a 140-mile race in Arizona, Becker applied for the Badwater 135 again. "Once I was committed to doing this race, I never had a moment when I didn't think I was going to finish it," Becker said. "I just had every expectation and a real focus on getting it done." Coach Lisa Smith-Batchen was part of Becker's four-person crew during this year's Badwater 135. "My coach, Lisa, was my crew chief and then there were three other people on the crew. And when I had down moments or needed to eat and get calories in, and didn't want to, she gave me some tough love, kept me on track and kept me on toward the finish line," Becker said He was also joined by Marshall Ulrich, Heather Ulrich and Will Litwin. Crew members drive alongside runners, making sure to pass them water, food and electrolytes. Becker ate regularly throughout the race, mostly focused on ingesting liquid calories and gel. He also took two naps during the Badwater 135. Crew members have changes of shoes and clothing, and will help bandage blisters during the run. They also, one at a time, run alongside race participants to keep them company and help them stay motivated. "These are people who know me — know my weaknesses, know my strengths," Becker said. Becker didn't get into running until he was in his late 50s. He celebrated his 60th birthday with his first ultramarathon: a 150-mile race in Morocco. In the years since, he's run all around the U.S. and the world, racing in China, Greece, Brazil, Canada and Costa Rica. His longest continuous run was 230 miles in Tennessee. "I've had people say it's a little crazy, to which I say, 'That's a prerequisite for this kind of stuff,'" Becker said. Becker also organizes races, including the Keys 100 in Florida — a 100-mile race from Key Largo to Key West — for which he serves as the race director. When he's not training for a race, Becker typically runs 30-40 miles a week. He ramps it up to 60-70 miles when he's training. Becker also does some strength training and core work. While running, he'll sometimes drag an SUV tire attached to a belt. The Fort Lauderdale, Florida, resident lives in a pretty flat area, so he'll run up stairs to mimic hills during training, or spend 25 miles going back and forth across a steep bridge. At his age, Becker said his training is age and race specific. He makes sure to pick races realistic for himself. While Becker isn't signed up for another race just yet, he's not hanging up his running sneakers. "I'm not ready to retire yet," he said. "The key is don't ever stop, that's all."
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Florida man, 80, becomes oldest person to complete ‘world's toughest foot race'
An 80-year-older runner has made history as the oldest person to complete the Badwater 135, nicknamed 'the world's toughest foot race'. Last week, Bob Becker of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, became one of 93 people to complete the ultramarathon course – which covers 135 miles, beginning 282 feet below sea level in California's sweltering Death Valley and climbing to 8,360 feet at the trailhead to Mt Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States. Advertisement In the course of the race, which has taken place each July since the 1980s, contestants can face temperatures of more than 120F (48C). Becker is no stranger to setting records on the Badwater 135 course. In 2015, at the age of 70, he became the oldest person to complete the 'Badwater Double' – turning around to run back to the race's beginning after completing the official 135 mile event. He had previously completed the Badwater 135 in 2008 and 2014. Becker's determination to finish the race this year came in large part from his inability to do so in 2022. That year, a video of him limping, and at times crawling, to the finish line drew tens of thousands of views. This year, Becker told outdoors magazine GearJunkie, 'I had a score to settle.' Advertisement Contestants must finish the Blackwater 135 in 48 hours. In 2022, Becker fell just 17 minutes short of that cutoff. This year, he completed the race with about three hours to spare. Related: 'They're a little crazy': the ultramarathon runners crossing Death Valley – in a drought 'It was just the most amazing crew I've ever had in 20 years of doing this stuff,' Becker told GearJunkie. 'It was fabulous and I'm just so glad I was able to make the finish line this time.' Becker has been running ultramarathons for two decades, and founded the KEYS100 Ultramarathon in 2008. But he credited his coaches – which included veteran ultramarathoners and endurance athletes Lisa Smith-Batchen, Marshall Ulrich and Will Litwin – for helping him finish this particular race. Advertisement 'I'm over the moon with such gratitude, joy, and deep love that Bob trusted me. This is a big responsibility,' Smith-Batchen told GearJunkie. 'Bob is younger at 80 than he was at 77, three years ago. You can be younger by tomorrow if you trust and do the work!' Norwegian runner Simen Holvik, 48, clocked the fastest time in the race this year, crossing the finish line in 21 hours and 48 minutes, just 15 minutes short of the current record-holder. At Holvik's age, Becker hadn't even begun running ultramarathons. He was 60 when a friend convinced him to run his first marathon, Becker told the Los Angeles Times. 'To me age is not a factor. If someone can do it then I can do it too,' he said. 'Within reason.'
The Guardian
14-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Florida man, 80, becomes oldest person to complete ‘world's toughest foot race'
An 80-year-older runner has made history as the oldest person to complete the Badwater 135, nicknamed 'the world's toughest foot race'. Last week, Bob Becker of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, became one of 93 people to complete the ultramarathon course – which covers 135 miles, beginning 282 feet below sea level in California's sweltering Death Valley and climbing to 8,360 feet at the trailhead to Mt Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States. In the course of the race, which has taken place each July since the 1980s, contestants can face temperatures of more than 120F (48C). Becker is no stranger to setting records on the Badwater 135 course. In 2015, at the age of 70, he became the oldest person to complete the 'Badwater Double' – turning around to run back to the race's beginning after completing the official 135 mile event. He had previously completed the Badwater 135 in 2008 and 2014. Becker's determination to finish the race this year came in large part from his inability to do so in 2022. That year, a video of him limping, and at times crawling, to the finish line drew tens of thousands of views. This year, Becker told outdoors magazine GearJunkie, 'I had a score to settle.' Contestants must finish the Blackwater 135 in 48 hours. In 2022, Becker fell just 17 minutes short of that cutoff. This year, he completed the race with about three hours to spare. 'It was just the most amazing crew I've ever had in 20 years of doing this stuff,' Becker told GearJunkie. 'It was fabulous and I'm just so glad I was able to make the finish line this time.' Becker has been running ultramarathons for two decades, and founded the KEYS100 Ultramarathon in 2008. But he credited his coaches – which included veteran ultramarathoners and endurance athletes Lisa Smith-Batchen, Marshall Ulrich and Will Litwin – for helping him finish this particular race. 'I'm over the moon with such gratitude, joy, and deep love that Bob trusted me. This is a big responsibility,' Smith-Batchen told GearJunkie. 'Bob is younger at 80 than he was at 77, three years ago. You can be younger by tomorrow if you trust and do the work!' Norwegian runner Simen Holvik, 48, clocked the fastest time in the race this year, crossing the finish line in 21 hours and 48 minutes, just 15 minutes short of the current record-holder. At Holvik's age, Becker hadn't even begun running ultramarathons. He was 60 when a friend convinced him to run his first marathon, Becker told the Los Angeles Times. 'To me age is not a factor. If someone can do it then I can do it too,' he said. 'Within reason.'
Los Angeles Times
11-07-2025
- Climate
- Los Angeles Times
At 80, he's the oldest to ever complete hot, harrowing Badwater ultramarathon
California does not lack for extreme sports settings. Surfers have the mountainous waves of Mavericks Beach near Half Moon Bay. Climbers have the awesome granite monoliths of Yosemite Valley. And ultra runners have Badwater. That's shorthand for the Badwater Basin in Death Valley, the starting place of an annual summer competition that bills itself as 'the world's toughest foot race.' This week, the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon lived up to its billing, for the 48th year, challenging humans to run from the lowest point in North America to the shoulders of the highest peak in the continental U.S. The 135-mile run takes competitors from around the world from the baking floor of Death Valley, where temperatures hit 117 degrees, to the thinning air of Whitney Portal, at more than 8,300 feet, the trailhead to glorious Mt. Whitney. Ninety-three people completed the ordeal within the allotted 48-hour time window this week, headlined by the oldest competitor ever to finish the course, 80-year-old Bob Becker of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 'It was pretty emotional to finish,' Becker said by phone from Lone Pine on Thursday, the morning after finishing, a little more than 45 hours after he started. 'I was just so happy to be there and to have so many people cheering me on.' It took Becker a little more than double the time of this year's winner, Simen Holvik of Norway, who finished in 21 hours and a little less than 48 minutes. That's about 15 minutes slower than the record holder, Yoshihiko Ishikawa of Japan, who set the mark in 2019. First among the women finishing this year was Marisa Lizak, 46, of Marina del Rey, in 25 hours, 7 minutes and change. (In years gone by, women have won the race and their all-time best stands behind the men's record by only a little more than 11 minutes.) Badwater is renowned not just for its distance but for its hellish conditions, with temperatures often soaring above 120 degrees and runners reporting hallucinations, blood blisters and feet swollen three sizes beyond normal. Becker had run in high school but was working as a mortgage broker when, with his 60th birthday approaching, a friend persuaded him to try a marathon in Minnesota. Quickly, distance running hooked him. He typically runs 60 to 70 miles a week, light by comparison to many ultra runners. But the 5-foot-4, 118-pound Becker spends a lot of extra time building up his core strength. He drags an SUV tire from a rope tied to his waist — an exercise intended to mimic the hill running in pancake-flat Florida. 'To me age is not a factor. If someone can do it then I can do it too,' he said. 'Within reason.' Becker became part of the Badwater 'family' two decades ago and has either run in the event or supported others ever since. In 2015, he even completed the rare 'double' — turning around and running back to Badwater from the Whitney trailhead. He was 70. And, oh yes, in between those back-to-back 135-mile rambles, Becker and his support crew hiked to the summit of 14,505-foot Mt. Whitney. That tacked on an extra 22 miles. Becker credited his team, particularly coach Lisa Smith-Batchen, for getting him through his ultra races, including multi-day runs in Morocco and China. After his Badwater double, he wrote: 'But given all that great help, it is still you, the protagonist in this drama, who must ultimately move yourself through the pain and exhaustion to that magical finish line.' He now plans a break and perhaps a 'real' vacation with his wife, Suzanne. But he vowed that the people would keep him coming back to running. And Badwater. 'There's just a very special culture in the world of ultra running. You feel it every time,' Becker said. 'Most of us are Type A and we are competing out there. But if someone needs water or some help, you always give it. That family sense is a big part of the sport. It's very special to me.' Amado Sierras writes: 'Pebble Beach!' Teresa Quinn writes: 'My favorite beach is Ocean Beach in San Diego. My husband and I went there on our honeymoon in 1976 and instantly fell in love with it.' Email us at essentialcalifornia@ and your response might appear in the newsletter this week. Today's photo is from the Times' archives as part of our series on Los Angeles' homeless crisis that features portraits of homeless people and families as they navigate life in the city. Jim Rainey, staff writerDiamy Wang, homepage internIzzy Nunes, audience internKevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorAndrew Campa, Sunday writerKarim Doumar, head of newsletters How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
