Jamie Donaldson One Ups Herself At Badwater 26:16:12
2008, 2009, 2010 Badwater Women's Champion and Record Holder
Gracious, humble and amazing are three words that just begin describing this year's women's champion of the 135 Mile Badwater Ultramarathon. With her most recent race domination Jamie Donaldson now owns the fastest three female times of all time at this most epic race. In 2008 Jamie set the standard at 26 hrs 51 min 33 sec, in 2009 she set the second fastest in 27 hrs 20 min 18 sec and in 2010 she shattered her already incredible standard by 35 minutes with a time of 26 hrs, 16 min, 12 sec good enough for first female and third overall.
Jamie & David Donaldson
Besides running 219 mile training weeks, putting in countless hours preparing and her personal fortitude Jamie also has wonderful chemistry between her and her crew which was very apparent before, during and after the race. In particular, it is just a wonderful thing to see how great Jamie and her husband David compliment each other as runner and crew chief but as two people who truly understand each other and communicate with subtle actions and intuition rather than a dialogue of demands and coaxing to move faster.
Team Donaldson Drymax (L to R) Cecilia Meech, Rob Kapfer, Jamie Donaldson, David Donaldson, Sean Meissner, Eric Meech
Having stability and experience in the team along with the exuberance of a rookie seemed to be the perfect blend to get Jamie swiftly to the finish. Her crew of David Donaldson (4th year), Rob Kapfer (4th year), Eric Meech (3rd year), Sean Meissner (2nd year) & Cecilia Meech (rookie) all had such a wonderful chemistry. Their quiet calm "another day at the office" mentality coupled with an appropriate sense of constructive urgency was incredibly important component in the success of this year's race. David was like 49er Coach Bill Walsh calling the plays and Jamie was like Joe Montana calmly executing the plan flawlessly that was set forth well in advance of the race.
Jamie Donaldson & Sean Meissner Hustling Up Townes Pass
Speaking of the plan, Jamie and her crew executed it without trying to deviate too much. She started slow and her Mt. Evans training plus her years of experience at Badwater kicked in once she hit Townes Pass she maintained a running pace which allowed her to pull away from her female competitors as well as passing many of the elite male runners.
Jamie Donaldson Through Lone Pine
Through the night she picked off one runner at a time greeting the dawn hours ahead of 2nd woman and solidly in 3rd overall and was about 3 miles ahead of last year's overall winner from Brazil. Approaching Lone Pine Jamie was only about 2 miles behind the second place runner and 3 miles behind the overall leader. She was in great spirits with her trademark smile while she was running by an exuberant crowd in Lone Pine waving to everyone.
During the entire BW experience Jamie was being shadowed by a British film crew shooting an hour long episode about Jamie and her extraordinary super human performance. Before, during and after the race the cameras, sound booms and reflectors were ever present. The high and low moments were being recorded for all to see. Along with the film crew was a specially assigned Highway Patrol car to assure safety of everyone involved in the film shoot. Jamie was really under a microscope during the entire race. Here patience often tested with boom mics and big lights but I'm sure she will come across very well on screen. We are very hopeful that this documentary will air in the USA on an affiliate sister broadcaster sometime this year.
Jamie Donaldson Determined To Keep Her Lead
Once through Lone Pine her game face was back on and she had to get to the finish. Not satisfied to being first female she pushed ahead with a steady pace as only a true competitor would. I don't think Jamie was overtly trying to break her own record but she really wanted to leave it all on the course and do the best she could. The course record would be just a bi product of this super human effort.
David & Jamie Donaldson Making The Final Push To The Finish
The last few miles to the Whitney Portals were very special. David assumed the final shift of pacing Jamie. There were more smiles and friendly encouragement than anything else. It was very evident how strong the bond is between Jamie and David. She trusts him completely and his confidence in Jamie is endless. They are truly a team that destiny created.
Team Donaldson Drymax Joyfully Making The Final Run For The Finish!
As the finish line approached the Team Donaldson Drymax assembled in their six abreast formation and crossed the line with a sudden burst of exuberant energy. More emotional than 2009 Jamie and her crew were joyous in their accomplishment having crushed her previous record by about 35 minutes. Her performance was good enough to be about four hours faster than her nearest female competitor.
She crossed the line only about 1 hr 10 min behind 2nd place Oswaldo Lopez and 1 hr 32 min behind overall winner Zach Gingerich who was great about waiting to greet Jamie at the finish to offer his congratulations.
Jamie Donaldson Post Race Interview
During her post race interview her emotions were evident. She was proud of her accomplishment but not boastful. She had done something no other woman had ever done at this race, win three female titles in a row in the three fastest times ever run by a woman and she was immensely thankful to her crew and race officials for such an epic experience.
Jamie Donaldson's Feet After Badwater
It is with great pleasure that we can announce that Jamie won her third Badwater wearing Drymax Maximum Protection socks with virtually perfect feet once again using no lubricants, powders or tape. Thank you Jamie Donaldson for trusting Drymax and for being such a wonderful representative of our brand. We are so proud to be associated with Jamie Donaldson. Her quiet class, genuine interest and concern for her crew, race staff, other runners, their crews was quite evident from before the pre-race check-in to the time she left Lone Pine for some R&R.
Congratulations to Jamie Donaldson and her crew for an absolutely wonderful performance!
A race report will be forthcoming from Jamie at her blog once she has a bit of time to unwind: http://altitudeultrarunner.blogspot.com/
Labels: Jamie Donaldson 135 Mile Badwater Ultramarathon Winner Record Holder
posted by Drymax Sports @ 8:07 AM
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