Lone Pine, CA, July 15. Jorge Pacheco of Los Angeles held off Akos Konya of Oceanside,
California to win the 2008 Badwater Ultra. Pacheco’s time of 23:20:16 was the second fastest
in race history.
Jamie Donaldson of Littleton, Colorado broke the women’s course record, winning in a time
of 26:51:33. Pam Reed of Tucson, Arizona had held the previous course record, with a
clocking of 27:56:47 in 2002. Reed finished second, also under the old record but some 51
minutes behind.
The race is a 135-mile (217-km) trek from Badwater in Death Valley, at 282 feet (86 m) below
sea level the lowest point in North America, to the top of Whitney Portal Road at an elevation
of 8360 feet (2550 m). Conditions were relatively mild this year, with some cloud cover and a
high temperature of 114 degrees F (46 C) at the official weather station in Furnace Creek.
Men
1. Jorge Pacheco, 40, Los Angeles, CA, 23:20:16
2. Akos Konya, 33, Oceanside, CA, 23:49:44
3. Dean Karnazes, 45, San Francisco, CA, 27:11:00
4. Hubert Karl, 50, Zeil, Germany, 29:30:40
5. David Horner, 50, Hendersonville, NC, 34:31:08
Women
1. Jamie Donaldson, 33, Littleton, CO, 26:51:33 (new course record, old record 27:56:47 by
Pam Reed, 2002)
2. Pam Reed, 47, Tucson, AZ, 27:42:52
3. Shanna Armstrong, 33, Lubbock, TX, 31:16:10
4. Lorie Hutchison, 44, Salt Lake City, UT 31:17:16
5. Jen Lee Segger, 27, Garibaldi Highlands, BC, Canada, 32:31:57
Photo at left: Jorge Pacheco crossing the finish line at Whitney Portal
(Chris Kostman photo)
