Photo: King of Hearts via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped. This adapted image is also licensed CC BY-SA 3.0.
Vegan ultrarunner Harvey Lewis has set a new men's 50-59 course record at the Badwater 135, finishing the 135-mile race from Death Valley in 25 hours, 55 minutes and 41 seconds.
Lewis was 11th overall in his first year in the age group, according to BoxRox. The previous mark of 26:15:35 had stood since 2013 and belonged to Charlie Engle, who is also a vegan runner. This year's race ran from July 27 to July 29, with the time limit cut from 48 hours to 45, and 88 of the 95 starters made it to the finish.
Badwater is billed as the world's toughest footrace. It starts below sea level in Death Valley in the heat of July and climbs toward Mount Whitney. Lewis has won it twice and has now finished it every year for 15 years.
He's been vegetarian for 30 years and vegan for the last ten, and he talks about his diet as part of how he sees the world rather than as a set of rules. He once told Great Vegan Athletes:
I think a lot in nature and I connect with the plants and animals and it makes me feel they have relevance as well.
He keeps coming back every summer, and in his first year in the 50-59 group he has gone faster than any man that age before him.
We first covered him when he won Badwater for the second time in 2021. He has since won Big's Backyard Ultra with a world record 108 laps and last October ran 462 miles at Big's despite breaking two ribs.
Fifteen finishes and a new record. Powered by plants.