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Santa Rosa 70-Year-Old Ultramarathoner Posts Personal Best in Ultramarathon Race

Caitlin Esch
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Courtesy of AdventureCORPS

Update Tuesday, Jul 17: Webb told KQED's Scott Shafer last week that "last year, at 69, I [finished] in 37 hours, which was a benchmark finish. But this year I want to break not only...40 [but] hopefully somewhere around 35 hours."

Well the race is now over. Webb's final time: 33:45:40.

Earlier post
Last week, we reported on Santa Rosa resident Arthur Webb's quest to complete a grueling 135-mile race from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney. The footrace crosses three mountain ranges, with temperatures expected to rise as high as 130 degrees.

At age 70, Webb is the ultramarathon's oldest participant. He and 95 others departed from Badwater, Death Valley on Monday. Check out Webb's progress in the Badwater Ultramarathon here.

The ultramarathon is also providing a live webcast, where participants are checking in.

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Webb told KQED's Scott Shafer last week this is his 15th time running the ultramarathon. And it hasn't always been easy.

The very first year I ran it I broke my toe the day before, and I ran it with a broken toe, which was aggravating. The heat was extreme. It was 130 the first day, 125 the second day. I had a lot of problems. I passed out the second day. They iced me down. I got up and finished. Three years ago I had a kidney stone a couple of days before the event. Two years ago I went down for nine hours. Who knows why? I was unbalanced. But I was able to get up and run all the way to the finish line which was really great.

The race is scheduled to end Wednesday. Webb says he's hoping to complete it in less than 40 hours.

More on the race...

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