Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Day Runner - August 2003

I did a three day hike to the summit in late August of last year. On the way down, at about 9:30 in the morning, I ran into a Chilean man just above Lone Pine Lake. He was wearing a long sleeve t-shirt, shorts and running shoes, and carrying a bottle of Aquafina water (almost half gone) and a disposable camera. He asked me to take a picture of him, which I did. He asked how far up the summit was, and I had to ask the obvious; "You're not planning on going up there today, are you?" Remember, it was already around 9:30. He responded that he hoped to run up as far as he could. I wished him luck, and he set off. At about 6 that evening, I was standing at the front desk of the Dow Villa motel when this same gentleman walked in asking for a couple he had stayed with. I asked him how his day had gone, and he stared at me, not really sure of who I was. I reminded him of our introduction earlier in the day, and he said, "Oh, I made it to the top." I was impressed, but the more we talked, the more astounded I became; he had not only made it to the top, but had run from the Dow Villa, up Portal Road, up the trail to the summit, then back down again. Now, I may be optimistic here, but I would like to believe that this man did exactly what he said he did. Of course, he could have been a total liar. My questions - #1 Has anyone heard of this gentleman of whom I speak? #2 - If not, has anyone ever heard of anyone doing something like this?

The time involved would be more approx. 8 hours which would be about 4 mph. I can maintain 2.5 to 3 mph while hiking, so it's reasonable for a conditioned runner.

Well I have done it also. But of course I was sleeping at the time. No wonder I was so tired when I woke up.

BigMatt,
Could you tell the approx. age of the 'RUNNER'?
D.H.,
Ahhhh, to be in SUCH SHAPE !!!

It doesn't sound too unreasonable to me. Let me say why.

I lived in Peru for a couple of years in the Andes mountains. The Andes are much higher than the Sierras. There are many cities in high altitudes, such as Cusco with a population of around 250,000 and it's at about 11,000-12,000 ft altitude. That's about as high as Trail Camp. Then there is Yauri, Peru, a city at about 14,000 ft altitude. That's a city almost as high up as Whitney.

Now, if you live in one of those cities for extended amounts of time (say your entire life like most in those cities), then the altitude of Whitney isn't a big deal.

In Cusco the athletes still run and practice like everywhere else. Your body does some amount of acclimitization over a long time, and your body learns to more effectively take in and use Oxygen. But not to the extent so that you could perform equally at low altitudes as high altitudes. Nevertheless, the performance is far superior to someone who is not acclimitized long-term to that altitude.

I peg this round trip at about 47 miles - 22 round trip from Portal to peak and about 25 from town to Portal and back. If this guy was at LP Lake at 9:30 I would suggest he could have left town at 6:00 AM or earlier. I would have have left earlier to run this route. BigMatt sees him back in town at 6 PM so he could have taken 12 or more hours. Now this becomes quite possible even for a good ultra runner who lives at sea level. As a guy nearing 50 I can round trip Whitney from the Portal pretty easily in 6:45. That would leave 5:15 to do the 25 road miles. Pretty doable.

As for having heard of someone doing something like this the answer is yes. The Badwater race has been doubled (run out and back in one continuous push), many have run from Onion Valley to Portal via the JMT in a day, and so on.

The gentleman in question was probably in his mid 30's, but I've been known to be really bad a determining age.

I don't think that's any big deal. I have snow shoed to trail crest in the winter with my dog from the road closed sign and back in one short winter day. There are three keys to overcoming altitude and to overcoming hills and to hiking in gereral: 1] weigh as little as possible. I weigh only 140 and am 5 feet 9 inches. Marco Pantani, one of the greatest climbers, weighed only 125. Lance Armstrong didn't win the tour until he lost 20 pounds. I have seen people hiking up Whitney who are at the least 50 pounds overweight. No wonder they find it tough: one pound on your body is like 6 pounds in your pack. 2] Lactic acid training is crucial. With a heart rate monitor and a bike and a hill I can keep my heart rate at 175 for 1 hour, and then at 160 for another 1-2 hours. I am 35. 3] Eat well.

You must mean 6 lbs. on your body is like 1 lb. in your pack. RVH

Big Matt,
It's definitely possible for a person in ultra marathon shape to go from the Dow Villa and back in a day. I have talked to several different people, both men and women, who have completed the Badwater ultra. I've also known a few people who do 100 mile races and they are just a breed apart. One of them has run from the McDonalds in Lone Pine, up to the summit and back down to the McDonalds to eat and rest up. This guy is 36, 5'10 and weighs 130 soaking wet and logs about 120 miles a week. His P.R. marathon time is 2:40. He does this McDonalds thing a couple of times each September, but stopped when he was bugged by a ranger about lacking a permit.

These ultra marathoners are incredible. I feel like just saying "I am not worthy" whenever I see their exploits.

I wonder about the guy's lack of water that you saw. He must have been filtering some on the switchbacks. One bottle just ain't gonna do it (obviously) on such a distance as he claimed to have covered.