At 44, Manmadh Rebba dared what many could have second thoughts about. He apparently belonged to a different breed, braving all odds to complete what is said to be the world’s toughest foot race ‘Badwater Ultramarathon’ as it features a 217-km course starting at 282 feet below sea level in the Badwater Basin in California’s Death Valley to finishing at an elevation of 8,360 feet (2,550m) above sea level at Whitney Portal.
“Yes, it needs a lot of courage, conviction and self-belief. But at the end of it all the joy of completing it is something beyond the realms of imagination,” Manmadh, who was an architecture student in JNTU (Masab Tank) here and whose father, Hanumaiah Rebba worked in the Syndicate Bank (Banjara Hills).
For the record, Manmadh completed the race in extreme conditions with the temperatures often reaching 50+ degrees centigrade on July 4. Manmadh is also the only Indian to race the Ultraman World Championship Hawaii (320 miles - 515 km) three times in a row—in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Recently, he also finished the Moab 240 race - ran 386 km through harsh and beautiful terrain of desert, canyons, slick rock and two mountain ranges with extreme weather conditions.
“When one of my fellow athletes qualified for this, running 217 km in 50+C seemed humanly impossible and got very curious about how those selected few could handle this challenge. Only 1,046 athletes completed this race, a small number compared to the people who summited Mt. Everest,” he said in a chat with The Hindu.
“Well, during the ‘Badwater Ultramarathon’, my friends and fellow endurance athletes came to crew me. Bojan Maric travelled for 2+ days all the way from Serbia and was my crew chief. Hans Siemelink from Houston, Texas, Connor McClelland and Brendan Martise from San Diego. They were the backbone of my race supporting my needs during the race. It’s mandatory to have a crew during the race,” he pointed out.
“I have been self-supporting for all my races. I train solo, cook and take care of my needs independently. Over the years I saved up to fund these races,” Manmadh said.
“The original race was changed due to the national park permit restrictions and danger involved in the remoteness, the finish line was moved to the Mt. Whitney portal at 8,500’,” he recalled. “Only two persons attempted to go beyond the finish line to the summit and they had to stop at 13,000 due to weather and snow conditions,” he recalled.
