Hellbender 100-Miler Recap & My Applicant Essay for Badwater 135 - Episode 222

Running Is Life Podcast

Hellbender 100 didn't go as planned. This episode goes into why. I also discuss my essay for my application for Badwater 135 (actual letter is below).

Here's my Post from Facebook after Hellbender:

I’ve learned something over the 3 decades I’ve been running. When we line up for a race, no matter how much we’ve trained and prepared, the race and life in general owes us nothing. The reality is we owe running & life a tremendous amount for what it does for & to us! Running and many coaches, friends, family members, and mentors have transformed me to find my current mindset. A DNF does not diminish or define who I am or what I can accomplish. It makes me take a deeper dive into a. What happened? b. What can I do better? & c. How can I train smarter (not necessarily harder)? It also makes me reflect upon life, the choices I make, my priorities, and what I’m doing to make this world a little better. Running Is Life is a mantra. I live it, I breathe it, and I grasp to understand and apply it on a daily basis. Keep moving forward my friends!

Essay for Badwater 135:

It’s hard to create a story that’s still in progress! It’s also tough to tell a story that’s pretty darn common. Sure, I’ve done and experienced some amazing things in my life, but to be honest, so have many others. So I had to ask myself, what separates me from everyone else?

Let me go back to 2016, and humor me for a moment with a flashback. In said year, I was running Dr David Horton’s now defunct Beast Series. I had completed 3 50k’s by April and the remainder of my calendar for that year was as follows:
June - Cayuga 50-miler & the Manitou’s Revenge 50-miler
July - Canadian Death Race 125k
Oct. - Grindstone 100-miler
Nov. - Mountain Massochist 50-miler
Dec. - Hellgate 100k
A Daunting & challenging schedule with the hope of winning both the Lynchburg Ultra Series & the Beast Series (which I did).

But that’s only part of the 2016 story. In the midst of all of this, I was in The Runner’s World Magazine Cover Contest. A finalist no less. A panel of judges had selected 5 male & 5 female contestants for the honor of being the winner of this contest and having their picture on the front of the magazine. I know for some, print media is dead, but I grew up with this magazine and eagerly read every article. To be a finalist for this was a dream come true!

So how did I get to that point?

Everything about my running stems from love. With and through running, I can do so much more than just go for a run. I can take an individual sport, and at times selfish activity, and make it about others. I created races that raised money for nonprofit organizations, I donated & sponsored races that did the same. I became a coach and mentor to younger and older runners. The point being is I tried to share my love for running and life with others so that they might do the same. To give the idea that life is about others and the change we can make and impact we can have when we put others first and use our talents and abilities to make a difference.

As the internet will show, I didn’t win, but I experienced something that changed my life and way of thinking. I met some truly amazing friends that have much more amazing stories than my own. And that’s what makes running so amazing. Each race we run has a limited number of runners. Those runners all have stories of how that got to that starting line. Badwater has shown this each year it’s run.

Since the Runner’s World Contest, my professional life has gone from Running Store owner and race director to a running coach and podcaster. It took me a number of years to find a name for my brand that felt suitable for who I am, what I do, and what I represent. It wasn’t until I watched Ted Lasso and saw the joy the character Danny Rojas exhibited for life and fútbol that I understood and found a name that resonated with me… “Running is Life”! That simple phrase/name struck a cord so deep that it’s hard to express how much it reflects my love for it and how it affects my thoughts, actions, and deeds. How such a simple few words can say everything. Running is Life!

My story may not be the most compelling, but instead of remaining an individual, I’ve become part of the community. I serve that community with my experience. As I try to reach each finish line, I know that I will help countless others do the same by learning from my own experiences. All I need is the opportunities to continue to grow, to learn, and to evolve. I believe Badwater is one of those experiences that will do so!

As I mentioned earlier, my story is incomplete. Will one of those blank chapters be filled with pages about the Badwater 135? Again, it’s up to a committee to decide what’s added to my story.

In races, we don’t deserve anything but the experience of what the day gives us. All we ask is for that opportunity to see what that day has in store for us. I know running Badwater is in part for my own sake, but I realize, and I hope I’ve conveyed, that it will impact many other lives in the process and aftermath as well.

I sincerely appreciate your time & consideration! I hope to see you in 2025!

Respectfully
Aaron Saft
Crew/Pacer for Dave Horner 10th Place 2008 Badwater 135

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Aaron Saft

Running Is Life Coaching & Podcast

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