#306: Finishing Brutal Badwater 135, Vanessa Kline Wants to Pace & Inspire Others to Do Hard Things

She took on one of the toughest footraces in the world this summer and was the 10th woman to cross the finish line at the Badwater 135 in the very hot Death Valley. Along with being an ultrarunner - who's done 100 marathons and almost that many ultras - Vanessa Kline is also a race director, entrepreneur, and single mom. I've had the honor of being one of her pacers at a race, since she's been the owner of best Pacing for almost 14 years now.

(5:05) Why and How do we get out of our comfort zone and do hard things? She talks about preparation/training, pain tolerance and experience, and having fun while working hard.

(13:10) A few months ago, Vanessa finished the Badwater 135 in a little more than 35 hours! We dive into hard difficult it is to get into that race (her application included a 500 K) and how an injury changed her training for the epic race.

(21:07) Taking us inside the legendary Badwater 135, we chat about the extreme heat (and preparing for that) and wearing ice...food and salt during that race...naps or sleep...and what it was like crossing the finish line.

(36:00) How important are official pacers in races of all distances, whether you're a fast runner or in the back of the pack? As the founder and director of Beast Pacing, Vanessa talks about helping people push their limits and what those pacers do besides running those miles. (43:11) And we close out our chat with how she balances jobs/companies, training and running races, being a mom of three. In part, it involves spreadsheets and making time for things she cares most about.

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On your journeys of fitness and faith, we are helping you stay motivated to be stronger physically and spiritually on the new RUN THE RACE podcast. Host Jason Dennis - veteran WTVM news anchor, marathon runner and missionary, will talk to experts and people with inspiring stories as we dig deeper into the mind, body and soul.