Round of Applause

The Thank Yous, Kudos, Accolades, Essays, and Press Coverage continue to pour in for the Kiehl's Badwater Ultramarathon like never before. It was truly our best race ever and we are so very, very thankful to everyone who made that happen.

Now, as we're about to turn our attention towards the July 2004 edition, I'd like to look back and give a big Round of Applause to everyone who helped make the 2003 race the biggest and the best one ever.

Our 2003 Race Sponsors

We are thrilled to have had Kiehl's Since 1851 as the proud title sponsor of the 2003 Kiehl's Badwater Ultramarathon. The Kiehl's VP, Abbie Schiller, is a wonderful person and a big fan of this event and its participants. Her efforts brought incredible media exposure, wonderful products for all the racers, and an incredible touch of class to the whole event.

Kiehl's was founded as an old-world apothecary at the corner of Thirteenth Street and Third Avenue in New York City. Its unique and extensive background represents a blend of cosmetic, pharmaceutical, herbal, and medicinal knowledge developed and passed on through generations. For more than 150 years, Kiehl's has served its customers skin and hair care products formulated with the finest ingredients. The company is characterized by a strident commitment to service standards of the highest quality. Go to http://www.kiehls.com for all the info.

E-Caps and Hammer Nutrition: http://www.e-caps.com
Special thanks to E-Caps and Hammer Nutrition for their support as the official nutrition sponsors of the Kiehl's 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.

Behind the Scenes Support

Badwater Mayor Ben and First Lady Denise Jones: Wonderful friends in so many ways, this couple has hosted Training Clinics in May and July and has done so very much throughout the year to support the race and its entrants.

They have chosen to scale back their involvement in the future and so we thank them, once again, for all that they have freely done for us and for this race throughout the years. They have truly demonstrated the spirit of volunteerism and what it means to give without expectation.

Matt Frederick once again produced our annual Kiehl's Badwater Ultramarathon Race Magazine. We have a real friend in Matt.

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

MediaBlend http://www.mediablend.com Thanks to the Mediablend.com team (Mike Morrison, Scott Garland, Ed MacNevin) for hosting our websites. They do first-rate web 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

A big thank you goes to those in the Death Valley area providing local support for our event

Death Valley National Park Visitor's Center
Pre-Race Meeting, Start Line, Race Course, and year-round management of Mother Nature's Greatest Sports Arena
(Chief Ranger Nancy Wizner, Business Manager Dave Rhinehart, and all the rangers and staff).

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
Start line host hotel and so much more
http://www.furnacecreekresort.com
(Cal and Toni Jepson, Phyllis Nefsky, and staff)

Panamint Springs Resort
http://www.deathvalley.com
Mile 72 hospitality suite
(Jerry Graham, Sandy Burnett, and staff)

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

Lo-Inyo Elementary School, Lone Pine
Awards Ceremony and Pizza Party
(Jan Reed and staff)

Seasons Restaurant, Lone Pine
Post-Race Breakfast Get-Together
(Jeff and Trina Tropple and staff)

The Pizza Factory, Lone Pine
Stan and Karen Dye
Providers of good eats for the Awards Ceremony.

The 2003 Race Staff

And then there is the tremendous 2003 AdventureCORPS Race Staff who made 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!

• Randy Klassen, a race veteran, was the 6am Captain.
• Jon Friedline was the 8am Captain.
• Bruce Gungle was the 10am Captain.
• Mike Angelos oversaw the finish line set up and was a webcast photographer.
• Don Meyer was the rock that held the finish line together.
• Dr. Lisa Stranc headed up the medical team that dispensed care, comfort, and much more to racers AND their crews. Assisted by her husband David Bliss, they saved the day for many of us!
• Joyce Snowbarger, RN, served on the medical team with the assistance of her husband, Marvin. Real life-savers, both of them.
• Jeff Key, a first aid and CPR instructor, rounded out the medical team with his expertise and positivity.
• Dave and Margaret Nelson were the race photographers, once again.
• Leon Draxler, a race veteran, ran the time stations in Furnace Creek AND Panamint Springs.
• Phil Marchant and John Wiley, with their sons, once again ran the Stove Pipe Wells time station.
• Dave Reese and family and friends ran the Darwin Turn-Off Time Station.
• Ron Jones, Sr. ran the time station in Lone Pine and oversaw Race HQ so that the webcast team could stay focused on their duties.
• A big thanks goes to my brother Keith Kostman for managing the race webcast in collaboration with Matt Frederick. This highly acclaimed and very unique feature of the annual Kiehl's Badwater Ultramarathon received over 900,000 page views and was enjoyed by over 20,000 different web fans around the world!
• Greatly improving the content and entertainment aspect of the webcast were the tireless webcast reporters who wrote stories and provided images:
• Greg Minter provided the insights of a race veteran. He was assisted by Steve Matsuda.
• Amit Mehrotra, a part-time journalist, got the good quotes and conducted the serious interviews.
• Dan Dominy of Dominy Film and Video, assisted by Hal Beery, produced the Video News Release for Associated Press TV, as well as the Party Video.
• Leonard Bertain was the primary 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. Completely invaluable on all levels, she also saves the day, and the race, on all the legal and liability fronts.

And Finally

A Big Thank You to the runners in the race, all 73 of them from twelve countries and twenty-three American states, along with their support crews, without whom this race would not be a race!

With much thanks for 2003 and best wishes for 2004,
Chris Kostman
Kiehl's Badwater Ultramarathon Race Director