Running on the Sun: The Badwater 135

The documentary follows a race. The race is called the Badwater. The distance is a hundred and thirty five miles. The course runs through Death Valley. The race is held in July. The heat is at its highest in that season. Forty people set out. Some are professional athletes and some are not. The camera follows them from beginning to end. Injuries and exhaustion are seen along the way. Some are forced to drop out. Those taking part talk about why they run. The answers they give differ from one another. Some want to see their own limit. Others give a different reason. That question is what the film is really after. It leaves the answer to the runners themselves. Mel Stuart directed the hundred minute documentary. The American production was finished in 2000.