Vestavia runner competes in "world's toughest foot race"

For 30 hours and nine minutes, Micah Morgan didn’t sleep. For 30 hours and nine minutes, Morgan ran from one of the lowest points in the country to the highest point. For 30 hours and nine minutes, Morgan ran in heat that reached well above 100 degrees, and clocked in at 158 degrees on the hot California pavement.

And after 30 hours and nine minutes, Morgan finished ninth, out of 100 runners, in the Badwater 135, which has been called the world’s toughest race by National Geographic. Runners are tasked with completing 135 miles in 48 hours, beginning in Death Valley and ending on Mount Whitney. Morgan’s top-10 finish placed her third among all female competitors.

“The ending at Mount Whitney was rough,” Morgan said. “There was no reprieve … just climbing.”

Finishing in such a high position was a surprise, Morgan said.

“We were not expecting that at all,” Morgan said. “I just wanted to cross the finish line in one piece.”

Morgan said she and her team, which included her husband, Cary Morgan, as well as fellow runners Owen Bradley, John Cobbs and Mike Schor, executed their plan well, allowing her to complete a longtime dream.

“I think I’ve always had, deep down, a passion for ultra running,” Morgan said.

Morgan found out about the race after watching footage of the race almost 20 years ago. The event has sister races, one of which Morgan found out about after her sister-in-law told her about one on Bald Head Island. Morgan won that event.

In order to run in the event, Morgan had to finish three 100 mile races, including one in the last year. So in 2017, Morgan ran the three races, all of which were in Florida. Those races coincided with weekend training and preparing to run in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees.

Runners in the Badwater are instructed to run on the white lines of the road, so as to not burn themselves. Morgan said she felt like her skin was “literally on fire.”

“It’s definitely a beating,” Morgan said.

Morgan said the hardest part of the race came before she took her first step.

“Driving to the start line … there were so many emotions going through,” Morgan said. “I was excited; I was scared to death, nervous and anxious. I wanted to barf. But I was just so thrilled to be on this world-class start line, just to be next to these people.”

During a 10-mile run downhill, Morgan began to feel a blister forming, but her team was able to take care of it. They helped her through that brief scare, as well as other low moments along the way, she said.

“Those guys really kept me in order,” Morgan said.

Morgan said she proved to herself she could run the race, and was glad to see her hard work pay off.

“Sometimes we see this podium finish, and all we see is the grandeur of being on a podium, but there’s a lot of heartache and pain and suffering, making yourself find those places where you think ‘I can’t,’ you can, and you come out of it and bring yourself out of pain and suffering,” Morgan said.

Morgan said she’s seen the running community in Birmingham grow, and challenges others thinking of running in the race, or running at all, to take those first few steps toward achieving their dream.

“Anybody can do this,” Morgan said. “... It’s up to you.”