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The Thank Yous, Kudos, Accolades, Essays, and Press Coverage poured in for the historic 25th Anniversary Sun Precautions Badwater Ultramarathon. With that in mind, as we start the New Year, I'd like to give a big Round of Applause to everyone who helped make the 2002 race the biggest and the best one ever.

So, without further ado, let's give a big round of applause to:

Our 2003 Race Sponsors

Sun Precautions: http://www.sunprecautions.com For the third year in a row, the title sponsor of the Badwater Ultramarathon was Sun Precautions, the Everett, WA-based makers of Solumbra 30+ SPF sun protective clothing, medically accepted sun protection for sun sensitive and sun sensible people. Special thanks to Shaun Hughes. To order a free Sun Precautions catalog, go to http://www.sunprecautions.com

E-Caps and Hammer Nutrition: http://www.hammernutrition.com/ Special thanks to E-Caps and Hammer Nutrition for their support as the official nutrition sponsors of the Badwater Ultramarathon. Their fine products, such as Hammer Gel, Sustained Energy, and Endurolytes, are simply the best possible energy source for endurance sports. Thanks to Steve Born and Brian Frank.

Brave Soldier Athletic Skin Care: http://www.bravesoldier.com Once again, we are proud to have Brave Soldier, makers of the very best athletic skin care products, supporting our race. The Brave Soldier mission is to bring the skin care science of the dermatologist's office to athletes in a highly effective and affordable manner. They deliver! Thanks to Jeffrey Neal.

Nine Lives Products, Inc. manufactures and distributes a range of safety products. Their blinking and reflective vests, waistcoats, and armbands will heighten visibility for runners and anyone who operates in low light environments. Because their products generate an active light utilizing a patented LED "flashing light" system, the wearer can be seen from longer distances (over 300 meters), thereby enhancing their safety. Ideal for athletes, law enforcement, fire, emergency and military personnel, road construction crews, rescue teams, runners, and cyclists. Thanks to Linda Reedy and Shari Kasner: http://www.9livesproducts.com

Behind the Scenes Support

Cycle Design (ads, graphics, logos): For a dozen years all of our t-shirt designs, jerseys designs, logos, ads, and more have come from Bev Schutte, the artist behind Cycle Design. Although cycling is her specialty, she is a true artist and can create any kind of original artwork for any need.

MediaBlend (web hosting and design): http://www.mediablend.com (Mike Morrison, Scott Garland, Ed MacNevin) Thanks to the Mediablend.com team for hosting our websites, as well as helping us with online registration and building our online store. They do first-rate web work.

Matt Frederick of produced our annual Badwater Ultramarathon Race Magazine. It's a beauty and a keeper!

Tony DiZinno (images for advertisements and website): http://www.dizinno.com Tony's 1999 image has graced the front page of our website for three years, he contributed greatly to the 2001 webcast, and he remains an important friend to this race every year.

Dave Nelson (images for promo mailings and more) Dave and his wife Margaret have been the AdventureCORPS staff photographers for a dozen years. As always, their work is first rate.

Custom Special Tees of Van Nuys, CA (merchandise manufacture): http://www.customspecialtees.com (Mark Pofsky and Meredith Quick) These folks have produced all our garments for six years and they always do excellent work.

Drina Hurst of Pacific Printing in Valencia, CA graciously provided the "Caution Runners on Road" signs for all the crew support vehicles. http://www.pacificprinting.com

Death Valley Area Support

Death Valley National Park (Rangers Kerri and Kyle Nelson and staff): Pre-Race Meeting, Start Line, half of the Race Course, and year-round management of Mother Nature's Greatest Sports Arena.

All of the folks with the California Highway Patrol, California Department of Transportation, U.S. Forest Service, and other government agencies who provide permits, oversight, and support.

Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort www.furnacecreekresort.com (Cal and Toni Jepson, Phyllis Nefsky, and staff): Death Valley Host Hotel and much more.

Panamint Springs Resort (Jerry Graham and staff): The Mile 72 hospitality suite is a much appreciated oasis during this race, as are their stocks of ice, water, and good meals!

Dow Villa, Lone Pine: http://www.dowvillamotel.com (Yolanda Chavez, Sylvia, and staff): Lone Pine Host Hotel and Race and Webcast Headquarters.

Lo-Inyo Elementary School (Jan Reed and staff): Awards Ceremony location.

Seasons Restaurant, Lone Pine (Jeff and Trina Tropple and staff): Post-Race Breakfast Get-Together Hosts. A yummy event at a great restaurant before we hit the road and start planning for the next year.

Whitney Portal Store (Doug, Doug Jr. and Earlene): Finish line hosts. They make sure our parking spots are ready and that they pancakes are huge!

Badwater Mayor Ben and First Lady Denise Jones http://www.badwaterbenjones.com This wonderful couple hosts the Training Clinics in May and July and do so very much throughout the year to support the race and the racers.

The Wonderful Community of Lone Pine

Stan and Karen Dye of the Pizza Factory: good eats for the post-race awards ceremony

Larry Williams of Josephs Bi-Rite good drinks for the post-race awards ceremony

Lynn and Jeanne of the Dow Villa: support for the post-race awards ceremony

The Powells of Frontier Best Western: support for the post-race awards ceremony

The 2002 Race Staff

And then there is the tremendous 2002 AdventureCORPS Race Staff who make it all happen for the racers, crew, and fans. These are the true heroes of this race for it would not go on without their tireless efforts. Thanks to all of them (and please come back)!

A big thanks goes to Matt Frederick, Scott McQueeney , and Anurang Revri for producing our annual webcast! This highly acclaimed and very unique feature of the annual Badwater Ultramarathon received over 400,000 page views and was enjoyed by over 16,000 different web fans around the world!

Ben and Denise Jones, Race Ambassadors, Mayor and First Lady of Badwater and the Training Clinic hosts also rove the course providing aid and support to racers, crew, and staff, plus Ben takes lots of great photos for the webcast while Denise tends to the blisters. (She IS the Blister Queen.)

Eric Ostendorff, the 0600 Captain and webcast photographer.

Bruce Bungle, the 0800 Captain, webcast photographer, and finish line savior.

Ron Jones and Ron Jones Sr., the 1000 Captains and webcast photographers.

Shannon McQueeney, Vivian McQueeney, and their friend Pat, ran the Furnace Creek Time Station and Panamint Springs Time Station, plus were very helpful at Race HQ.

Phil Marchant and John Wiley ran Stove Pipe Wells Time Station, then patrolled the course.

Dave Reese and family and friends ran the Darwin Turn-Off Time Station.

Steve Teal was our omnipotent roving paramedic.

Mike Angelos was the finish line engineer and Al Arnold's back-up chauffeur.

Leonard Bertain was the head webcast photographer and provides invaluable race director support year-round.

Deborah Caplan is legal counsel and provides year-round race director support and much more.

Dan Dominy and Debbie Legarza produced the Video News Release and Party Video.

Dave and Margaret Nelson were our race photographers, once again.

Almost Finally

Back in 1977, Al became the first runner to complete the trek from Badwater to Mt. Whitney. Twenty-five years later, he came back to Death Valley to become the first inductee into the Badwater Hall of Fame. Additionally, the 2002 race was dedicated to him and he was on hand throughout the race to announce the start of each of the three starting waves, to lend his encouragement to the runners, and to hang medals around their necks at the finish line, not to mention pose for photos and sign autographs. A Big Thank You to Al Arnold for everything he has done and still does!

And Finally

A Big Thank You to the runners in the race, all 81 of you, AND all of those runners' support crews, without whom this race would not happen!

P.S. I know forget some people and for that I apologize! Please let me know of any omissions here.

With much thanks for 2002 and best wishes for 2003,
Chris Kostman
Race Director